Franck, César

[Sydney Grew]

Franck, César

César Franck was born at Liège in 1822. He composed a good deal of choral and vocal music; but among his later productions there are not many instrumental works. After 1875 we think of just the following (in chronological order):

Les Eolides, symphonic poem (1876)

Piano quintette (1879)

Le chasseur maudit, symphonic poem (1882)

Prelude, chorale and fugue, for piano (1884)

The Djinns, symphonic poem for orchestra with solo piano (1884)

Symphonic Variations, for piano and orchestra (1885)

Sonata for piano and violin (1886)

Prelude, aria and finale, for piano (1887)

Psyché, symphonic poem with chorus (1888)

Symphony in D minor (1888)

String quartette (1889)

All, however, are thrilling masterpieces, and the last quartette towers, even, above everything else.

He is known for two particular techniques: his "cyclic form" in which melodies and snippets derived from each other are not confined to single movements, but recur in different forms throughout a piece. And the second technique is his all-pervading chromatic harmony and counterpoint. It seems not to be to every one's taste, but I have always found chromaticism far more inspiring and memorable than mere diatonicism. We remember Mozart's madder moments do we not, and perhaps Franz Schmidt's second string quartette.

The interested reader may readily find on-line performances of all the wonderful pieces here mentioned.

[Tony Halstead]

Franck, César

César Franck was born at Liège in 1822. He composed a good deal of choral and vocal music; but among his later productions there are not many instrumental works. After 1875 we think of just the following (in chronological order):

Les Eolides, symphonic poem (1876)

Piano quintette (1879)

Le chasseur maudit, symphonic poem (1882)

Prelude, chorale and fugue, for piano (1884)

The Djinns, symphonic poem for orchestra with solo piano (1884)

Symphonic Variations, for piano and orchestra (1885)

Sonata for piano and violin (1886)

Prelude, aria and finale, for piano (1887)

Psyché, symphonic poem with chorus (1888)

Symphony in D minor (1888)

String quartette (1889)

All, however, are thrilling masterpieces, and the last quartette towers, even, above everything else.

He is known for two particular techniques: his "cyclic form" in which melodies and snippets derived from each other are not confined to single movements, but recur in different forms throughout a piece. And the second technique is his all-pervading chromatic harmony and counterpoint. It seems not to be to every one's taste, but I have always found chromaticism far more inspiring and memorable than mere diatonicism. We remember Mozart's madder moments do we not, and perhaps Franz Schmidt's second string quartette.

The interested reader may readily find on-line performances of all the wonderful pieces here mentioned.

Thank you for this posting; I'd love to think that Franck, one of my favourite composers, is due for a revival or reappraisal. I'm interested that you write 'Sonata for piano and violin (1886)', as that is how I have always imagined, or heard(!) that masterpiece. With regard to the two major piano works, it's a pity that the earlier 'Prelude, chorale and fugue' seems always to be aired in recitals rather than the more mature, less flamboyant but more chromatic 'Prelude, aria and finale'. Regarding your assertion 'chromaticism (is) far more inspiring and memorable than mere diatonicism', I must agree. On that topic, may I add to your list the 3 Organ Chorales of 1890, the first of which represents Franck's most subtle and memorable use of chromaticism.

[gurnemanz]

We had a go at this a few years ago. http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...-his-vn-sonata

I'd add his Mélodies

[richardfinegold]

I’ve always enjoyed the Symphony, the Piano and Violin Sonata (another reason why Piano should get the lead billing is that the Violin seems to be replaced by many other instruments in recent recordings), and the Symphonic Variations. The rest of Franck has never appealed to me, particularly the Chamber Music, which seems long on heavy breathing and short on substance

[BBMmk2]

One work, although earlier(?), is his symphonic poem, Le Chasseur Maudit.

[gurnemanz]

One work, although earlier(?), is his symphonic poem, Le Chasseur Maudit.

There's a brand new recording just out which has had very good reviews. https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...he-les-eolides
I'm pretty sure I will get it. It includes the complete Psyché with choral sections and Les Eloides which I don't know.

[BBMmk2]

There's a brand new recording just out which has had very good reviews. https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...he-les-eolides
I'm pretty sure I will get it. It includes the complete Psyché with choral sections and Les Eloides which I don't know.

That does sound like a recording I will get. It’s not often you have these works on the same recording and Pschyé, with those choral sections! And with these artists!

[Barbirollians]

I remember our late member Hornspieler could not stick the Symphonic Variations.

I am rather fond of them and in particular of the Symphony especially with the Chicago Symphony and Monteux - the violin sonata with Danczowska and Zimerman.

[cloughie]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_César_Franck

His piano concerti - anyone heard them - juvenile works but no 2 sounds interesting - available on a Naxos CD!

[jayne lee wilson]

Long an obsession of mine, I love how malleable the D Minor Symphony can be: thrillingly clean-limbed, dynamic and dramatic with Paray or Dutoit; that peculiarly distinctive, lighter textured France-Belgique sound full of warmth, colour and buoyancy in Liège with Arming or Langrée; inspiring some legendary stereo-statements from Monteux or Karajan.

I took out that Paris Orchestra recording a few months ago (on a Toshiba remaster) was newly astonished by it: remarkable sweep, power and richness of sonority, Karajan taking it no whit less seriously than Bruckner or Beethoven, yet somehow staying true to the spirit of the work whilst making more vividly audible the Wagnerian influence.

I became lately fond of the String Quartet and the Piano Quintet, delving among the pages of their dense, intricate elaborations; these in the recordings by Quatuor Ysaÿe and Pascal Rogé, on they Ysaÿe's own label.

[pastoralguy]

A real shame that the Franck Symphony no longer seems to feature in concerts these days. (Not that ANYTHING is being played these days!)

The first complete symphony I ever played in our local School's Orchestra. I remember buying the CfP record of Berglund and The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra's performance.

[BBMmk2]

Have seen on Spotify, a Chandos CD of Tadaaki Otaka conducting Franck Psyché, (with Curial sections)and Le Chasseur Maudit. Looks expensive on Amazon not sure on Presto though?

[gurnemanz]

I first got hooked by a Franck work when in the early 70s I acquired the version with David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter on a Melodiya LP, recorded live in Moscow in 1968. With the Brahms No 3 on the other side. I remember I waited ages (till 2003), for a CD to appear and when it did it was on a very desirable 5 CD set, also Melodiya, which I immediately snapped up. (still just about available at a price)

[vinteuil]

I first got hooked by a Franck work when in the early 70s I acquired the version with David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter on a Melodiya LP, recorded live in Moscow in 1968. With the Brahms No 3 on the other side. I remember I waited ages (till 2003), for a CD to appear and when it did it was on a very desirable 5 CD set, also Melodiya, which I immediately snapped up. (still just about available at a price)

... a single CD of the Oistrakh with the Brahms and Franck is also available, at a more reasonable price :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000024DPK

.

[Serial_Apologist]

While much of the music of Cesar Franck I love, I can't say I share for example jayne's enthusiasm for the D Minor symphony, with it's, for me, thick textures, and overlong opening movement, which I find badly balanced by that (again to me) tedious exposition and its repetition; though the middle movement is wonderful for its earworm themes; and Poulenc did a wonderful job in satirising the broad theme of the first movement in his own "Les Biches" - as well as satirising quite a few other pieces. I sometimes think the so-called post-Franckistes - Dukas, Chausson, D'Indy, and including (dar I say?) early Debussy and Roussel being the ones I know best - did an improvement job on the deficiencies in Franck's music - rather as Franck did on Liszt in not adopting the latter's sometime bombast and banality.

We have to thank Franck - and Saint-Saens - for grounding the basics for a French symphonic alternative to the hegemonic Austro-German school - I for one always think Faure should have come up with at least one symphony, which, with his far greater and seemingly inborn capacity for sonata-form thinking, could have provided the answer to Cesar's "heaviness" while employing a simlar harmonic language. But it was not to be, and for a long time it was assumed or believed that Faure had no ear for orchestration - thoush that has been questioned more of late, and possibly was down to the fact that the supreme orchestrator Charles Koechlin, his pupil, did quite a bit of orchestration on Faure works. What stays with Franck is the remarkable foresightedness of his chromaticism - derived, yes, from Wagner as well as Liszt, but in works such as the Violin Sonata finale and the Piano Quintet perparing the way for early Schoenberg. There he was ahead of his German contemporaries, with the exception of Wolf.