César Franck on Music Theory Print

Cello Sonata (Franck/Delsart)

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History#

The A major Violin Sonata is one of César Franck’s best-known compositions, and is considered one of the finest sonatas for violin and piano ever written. After thorough historical study based on reliable documents, the Jules Delsart arrangement for cello (the piano part remains the same as in the violin sonata) was published by G. Henle Verlag as an Urtext edition. In his biography of Franck, Joël-Marie Fauquet reports on how there came to be a cello version. After a performance of the violin sonata in Paris on 27 December 1887, the cellist Jules Delsart, who was actively participating in this concert as a quartet player, was so enthusiastic that he begged Franck for permission to arrange the violin part for cello. In a letter that Franck wrote his cousin presumably only a little later, he mentioned: “Mr Delsart is now working on a cello arrangement of the sonata.” According to this, the arrangement for cello did not proceed from the publishing house, but from a musician who was a friend of the composer’s (both taught at the Paris Conservatoire). There is also no doubt about Franck’s consenting to this arrangement. Since the piano part remained unchanged, the renowned publishing house Hamelle did not publish the arrangement in an edition all its own (c. 1888), but simply enclosed the cello part with its separate plate number in the score. During Franck’s lifetime the A major sonata was offered in two (more or less) equal variant settings (piano and violin; piano and cello), with the explicit reference to the arranger (Jules Delsart) of the cello version. César Franck probably had nothing against the title page in that he gave away appropriate copies to friends and acquaintances, including a dedication to the musicologist Adolf Sandberger. (At the heart of G. Henle Verlag’s programme are the so-called Urtext Editions. They are characterized by their correct musical text, drawn up following strict scholarly principles, with an extensive commentary on the sources consulted – covering autographs, copies and early printings – and details regarding the readings.) On the “oral and written history” that Cesar Franck first conceived the sonata for cello and piano (before the commission from Eugène Ysaÿe arrived), Pablo Casals wrote in 1968, “… what I remember distinctly is that Ysaÿe told me that Franck had told him that the Sonata was intended for violin or cello. That was the reason for my taking it up and playing it so much during my tours.” Antoine Ysaÿe, Eugène Ysaÿe’s son, expressed in a letter that there is a version in César Franck’s handwriting for cello.

Grande Pièce Symphonique

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Background#

The Six Pièces are an important work of the composer, marking the beginning of the second period of his career and predicting the flowering in his later creative life. His long struggle on the comic opera Le Valet de ferme (1851–1853) ended with a disastrous failure of the production and a disappointment, which paralysed Franck’s activity as a composer for several years. The influence of the new Cavaillé-Coll organ at Sainte-Clotilde, Paris, for which he was appointed first organist in 1859, encouraged him to resume composing. Japanese composer Akio Yashiro found out that, in comparison to the C major Fantaisie Op.16 (Six Pièces, No. 1), Franck now makes extensive use of all possibilities of the organ. Grande pièce symphonique is written in a single movement, which may be divided into three parts, the second of them being the Andante with a scherzo-like middle section. This feature of the work, sometimes referred to as “organ symphony”, has induced comparison with his later chef-d’œuvre, the Symphony in D minor. Yashiro regarded this work as prototype of the symphony, based on the following four reasons: # Unity of the cyclic form, “thème cyclique” # Similarity of the cyclic themes in both works # Scherzo is embedded in the slow movement # Conclusion with “joy of faith” in parallel major. In addition, Yashiro pointed out that this work shares several features with some of composer’s later masterpieces. The work’s dedicatee, the virtuoso pianist and composer Charles Valentin Alkan, had written a symphony for solo piano a few years earlier, as part of the Douze Études dans tous les tons mineurs, Op. 39, published in 1857, which also included the celebrated concerto for solo piano. The score was published as part of the “Six pièces pour Grand-Orgue” by Mme. Maeyen-Couvreur, Paris. Around 1878, there was a reissue by Durand.

Hulda (opera)

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Performance history#

Hulda was first was Franck’s first opera to be performed, in an incomplete version, in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on 8 March 1894. followed by performances in The Hague in March 1895 and Toulouse in April 1895. The influence of Richard Wagner is clear, both in the writing for brass and also in the love duets which are reminiscent of Tristan und Isolde. Franck’s writing shows his seriousness of expression and characteristic chromatic harmony. The third act was performed at the Concerts Colonne with Demellier and Cazeneuve on 16 October 1904 to mark the unveiling of a monument to the composer. The first complete performance of the opera was by Reading University Opera on 28 February 1978, and it was staged at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London, on 15 March 1994, by University College Opera with Julian Gavin as Eiolf. This 1994 UCL Opera production restored the Marche Royale at the start of act 4, not included in any of the earlier productions. The first two acts were performed with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra on 22 and 23 October 2010 in Molde, Norway. The first complete performance of the original version of the opera sung in French was on the 16 February 2019 in Freiburg im Breisgau. It was released on the Naxos label in October 2021 with conductor Fabrice Bollon. A revival concert-performance of the complete opera took place at the Royal Opera Hall of Wallonia in Liège, Belgium, on 15 May 2022. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège was conducted by Gergely Madaras. The performers included Jennifer Holloway (Hulda), Véronique Gens (Gudrun), Judith van Wanroij (Swanhilde), Marie Karall (Hulda’s mother), Marie Gautrot (Halgerde), Ludivine Gombert (Thordis), Edgaras Montvidas (Eiolf), Matthieu Lécroart (Gudleik), Christian Helmer (Eynar), Guilhem Worms (Aslak), François Rougier (Gunnard), Sébastien Droy (Thrond), Artavazd Sargsyan (Eyrick), Matthieu Toulouse (Arne and a Herald), and the Chamber Choir of Namur. The manuscript full score is held at the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris.

Le Chasseur maudit (Franck)

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Les Béatitudes

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Recordings#

Helmuth Rilling conducting the SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, with Gilles Cachemaille, John Cheek, Keith Lewis
Armin Jordan conducting the Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique and Chœurs de Radio France, with Louise Lebrun, Jane Berbié, Nathalie Stutzmann, et al.
Gergely Madaras conducting the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, with Anne-Catherine Gillet, David Bizic, Héloïse Mas, John Irvin et al.

External links#

Jean Robert. Les Béatitudes de César Franck: Part 1 (general information); Part 2 (Béatitudes 1–4); Part 3 (Béatitudes 5–6); Part 4 (Béatitudes 7–8)
Norman Demuth (1949). César Franck. New York: Philosophical Library, 1949. P. 163–171

Les Éolides

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Background#

The initial inspiration for the piece came from a poem by Leconte de Lisle about the Aeolids, daughters of the keeper of the winds Aeolus. The work, begun early in 1875, didn’t go well until Franck came for summer vacation in Languedoc. He finished the piece in September 1875 and revised it in 1876. The instrumentation was completed on 7 June, but a performance was a difficult task, as at that time the Société Nationale de Musique rarely organised orchestral concerts. The piece was premiered on 13 May 1877 on the 70th concert of the Société in the Salle Érard (Paris). Although he had mauled Franck’s oratorio Rédemption some years earlier, Édouard Colonne was appointed to conduct. Les Éolides were well received by the public. A revival of the piece in February 1882 under Charles Lamoureux’s baton might have impelled Franck to compose his next symphonic poem, Le Chasseur maudit, and the orchestral colours of Les Éolides made their way into his last instalment in that genre, Psyché (1888).

Panis angelicus

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Musical settings#

The text was set as a motet by several Renaissance composers including João Lourenço Rebelo. In the seventeenth century, Marc-Antoine Charpentier set H.243 in 1670–75. Later romantic era settings include those by André Caplet, Saint-Saëns, and, best known of all, the setting by César Franck.

Text#

Panis angelicus fit panis hominum; Dat panis cœlicus figuris terminum: O res mirabilis! Manducat Dominum pauper, servus et humilis. Te trina Deitas unaque poscimus: Sic nos tu visita, sicut te colimus; Per tuas semitas duc nos quo tendimus, Ad lucem quam inhabitas. Amen. Thus Angels’ Bread is made the Bread of man today: the Living Bread from heaven with figures dost away: O wondrous gift indeed! the poor and lowly may upon their Lord and Master feed. Thee, therefore, we implore, O Godhead, One in Three, so may Thou visit us as we now worship Thee; and lead us on Thy way, That we at last may see the light wherein Thou dwellest aye. Amen.

Piano Quintet (Franck)

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Structure#

There are three movements: The music has a cyclical character whereby a motto theme of two four-bar phrases, used 18 times in the first movement, recurs at strategic points later in the work.

Stradella (Franck)

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Background#

In 1830s Europe rediscovered music by Alessandro Stradella, and his life turned to be fascinating enough to become a subject for operatic treatment. Two most important operas about him were Stradella by Louis Niedermeyer (1837) and Alessandro Stradella by Friedrich von Flotow (1844). Both were premiered in Paris in 1837, in space of just one month: Flotow’s opera was a one-act comédie en vaudeville (he expanded it into a full-length composition only seven years later) and Niedermeyer’s was a five-act traditional grand opéra. The last was revived in a 3-act version in 1840. The young César Franck chose for his very first try in the opera genre the same libretto as Niedermeyer, that is the one by Émile Deschamps and Émilien Pacini, but he completely omits the last two acts. Stradella was probably composed between 1841 and 1842 and may be the result of Franck’s experiences as accompanist to the Italian tenor Mario Bordogni. The opera was left as a vocal score, preserved in a manuscript at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. It was orchestrated by Luc van Hove and staged for the first time at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie on 19 September 2012. This production was recorded by Dynamic label and issued either on CDs (audio) or on a DVD (video).

String Quartet (Franck)

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Background#

The creative life of Franck is broadly divided into three periods. During the first period (1841–1858), when his ambitious father forced him to be active as a virtuoso pianist, Franck wrote works for chamber music, including four piano trios numbered as the composer’s Opp. 1 and 2. Franck received advice from Franz Liszt, who commented, about 40 years later, on hearing an organ performance by Franck at Sainte-Clotilde, Paris, “How could I ever forget the composer of those trios?” However, during the second period (1858–1876), when Franck dedicated himself to the organ, he did not compose any notable works for this genre. Franck’s masterpieces, including the Piano Quintet F minor (1879), the Violin Sonata A major (1886), and this quartet, were written in the third period (1876–1890). Since his next chamber work, the second violin sonata, was unfinished at the time of his death in 1890, this string quartet is his last completed chamber work. Franck started a sketch of this work at the beginning of 1889. He commenced with the first movement, and, through at least three different versions, completed the final version of it on October 29. After quickly finishing the second movement by November 9, but traces of Beethoven are not superficially visible. However, he never pandered to the French public taste of the day and never ceased pursuing his ideal of music, gradually attracting interest from the public as well as professionals through masterpieces such as his violin sonata. Finally, on 19 April 1890, in the concert of the Société nationale de musique at Salle Pleyel, the premiere of this work was received with thunderous applause. and the edition by Hamelle, Paris, was widely used in 1906.

Symphonic Variations (ballet)

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Background#

During the Second World War, Ashton listened to Franck’s Symphonic Variations a great deal and he decided to develop an elaborate scenario to be set to the music. Constant Lambert, music director for the Sadler’s Wells Ballet, at first objected to the use of Franck’s music for a ballet; Ashton dropped his original scenario and created an abstract ballet. During the war, the repertory had become increasingly literary, and Ashton’s purpose was to counteract this. It was not his intention to display ingenuity of invention but to construct a more abstract piece, setting three men and three women dancing on the vast expanse of the Opera House stage uncluttered with scenery and effect.

Symphonic Variations (Franck)

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History#

The work was dedicated to Louis Diémer, who on 15 March 1885 had premiered Les Djinns, a symphonic poem for piano and orchestra that brought Franck one of his rare critical successes. He promised to reward Diémer with “a little something”, and the similarly scored Symphonic Variations was the result. Franck started work in the summer of 1885, and completed the piece on 12 December.

Premiere#

The premiere on 1 May 1886, at the annual orchestral concert of the Société Nationale de Musique, went almost unnoticed. The soloist was Diémer, and the composer conducted. The second performance was not until 30 January 1887, at a concert devoted entirely to Franck under the conductor Jules Pasdeloup, with Diémer again as soloist. It still failed to impress. The British premiere occurred on 23 October 1902 at the Promenade Concerts, under the baton of Henry Wood.

Symphony in D minor (Franck)

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Background#

Franck, born in 1822 in what is now Belgium, became a naturalised French citizen in 1871. That year, he was a founding member of the Société nationale de musique, established in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War by Camille Saint-Saëns and Romain Bussine to promote French music. Franck’s works after 1870 reflect his growing awareness of and interest in German music, especially that of Richard Wagner. Urged on principally by his student Henri Duparc, Franck “made an effort to study one of the Wagner scores every summer during the last period of his life.”. Although he remained ambivalent about Wagner’s compositional approach, his estimation of Wagner’s merits remained, unlike others in the Société nationale (notably Saint-Saens) “in no way influenced by the nationalist dimension.” He remained an admirer of German music and was less troubled than some of his colleagues about the so-called “L’invasion germanique” of music in France in the 1870s. Indeed, Franck dedicated the symphony “to my friend Henri Duparc,” the student who had principally urged him to deepen his knowledge of Wagner’s operas. Franck reached his creative peak in the 1870s, when he was in his late fifties. His Piano Quintet and the oratorio Les Béatitudes appeared in 1879, the Symphonic Variations in 1885 and the Violin Sonata in 1886. In 1887 he began sketches for a symphony – a musical form more associated with German than with French music. Like Berlioz, Franck revered Beethoven, and several commentators have noted the influence of Beethoven, particularly the late string quartets, on the symphony, both as to form – Franck adopted a cyclic structure – and content. Like Berlioz, Franck departed from the customary four-movement form of the classical symphony of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; unlike the Symphony fantastique by Berlioz, which is written in five movements, Franck’s symphony is written in three.

Trois Chorals

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Origins, manuscripts and publication#

César Franck began composing the Trois Chorals in the summer of 1890 in Nemours, south of Paris. He completed the first draft of Choral III on September 30 and died on November 8, 1890, from complications arising from a traffic accident he had suffered in Paris in July of that year. Although Franck did not have the opportunity to play the Trois Chorals himself in public, to teach them, or to accompany their printing and publication, there are contemporary accounts by Louis Vierne and Charles Tournemire of private performances of the works (piano four hands) with his students. In his critical edition of all César Franck’s organ and harmonium works, British organist and musicologist Richard Brasier documents that Franck created three different manuscripts for each of the three chorales: a first draft, a second, more comprehensive draft with corrections, and a fair copy. According to Brasier, however, the manuscripts that were demonstrably available to the music engraver contain corrections, crossed-out material, missing rests in the pedal system, playing instructions in pencil and ink, and faintly legible registrations in Franck’s own hand that have been erased. It is likely that these manuscripts, which were essentially complete (with some rather hasty handwriting, especially in Choral III), were working drafts by the composer. The two fair copies of Choral II and Choral III, which are incomplete in some details, were written in clearly legible handwriting in ink, without corrections, and contain a wealth of details that are not present in the manuscripts for the music engraver. Franck was particularly careful in this regard in Choral II, for example in refining the voice leading between the two hands. In contrast, the fair copy of Choral III lacks registrations and manual indications, suggesting that Franck was unable to complete the work before his death due to his deteriorating health. Brasier emphasizes that only 17 days elapsed between the completion of the draft of Choral III and the diagnosis of a respiratory infection, which led to Franck’s death 22 days later. The published registrations were demonstrably not written by Franck himself, but by another person who has not yet been clearly identified (in French and English), while Franck’s original and still faintly recognizable pencil entries (who, in addition to French, also spoke German, but not English) were erased. The Trois Chorals were published posthumously on January 29, 1892, by Auguste Durand & Fils in Paris. None of the manuscripts bear a dedication; nevertheless, the Trois Chorals appeared in 1892 with the following dedications: * Choral I – “A Monsieur Eugène Gigout” * Choral II – “A Monsieur Auguste Durand” * Choral III – “A mon élève Augusta Holmès” Vincent d’Indy reported that the dedications were actually intended for Alexandre Guilmant, Théodore Dubois, and Eugène Gigout. According to Léon Vallas, the composer’s son, Georges Franck, replaced the names Guilmant and Dubois with Auguste Durand and Augusta Holmès for unknown reasons. According to Richard Brasier, it is likely that Georges Franck decided which of the existing manuscripts of the Trois Chorals would be used by the publisher Durand for publication after his father’s death. In all three cases, the second manuscript versions were selected, which were working drafts for the composer but not the fair copies intended for publication (which Franck was unable to complete due to his health problems, but which contain numerous corrections and changes that are missing in the first two manuscript versions of the Trois Chorals).

Violin Sonata (Franck)

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Background#

The Violin Sonata in A was written in 1886, when César Franck was 63, as a wedding present for the 28-year-old violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. played the Sonata to the other wedding guests. The Sonata was given its first public concert performance on 16 December of that year, at the Musée Moderne de Peinture in Brussels. Ysaÿe and Bordes-Pène were again the performers. The Sonata was the final item in a long program which started at 3pm. When the time arrived for the Sonata, dusk had fallen and the gallery was bathed in gloom, but the museum authorities permitted no artificial light whatsoever. Initially, it seemed the Sonata would have to be abandoned, but Ysaÿe and Bordes-Pène decided to continue regardless. They had to play the last three movements from memory in virtual darkness. When the violinist Armand Parent remarked that Ysaÿe had played the first movement faster than the composer intended, Franck replied that Ysaÿe had made the right decision, saying “from now on there will be no other way to play it”. Vincent d’Indy, who was present, recorded these details of the event. Ysaÿe kept the Violin Sonata in his repertoire for the next 40 years of his life, with a variety of pianists, like Théo Ysaÿe, Ernest Chausson, Ferruccio Busoni, Vincent d’Indy, Raoul Pugno, Camille Decreus, Arthur De Greef, Leopold Godowsky, Yves Nat, and many others. His championing of the Sonata contributed to the public recognition of Franck as a major composer. This recognition was quite belated; Franck died within four years of the Sonata’s public première, and did not have his first unqualified public success until the last year of his life on 19 April 1890, at the Salle Pleyel, where his String Quartet in D was premiered. The Sonata in A regularly appears on concert programs and on recordings, and is in the core repertoire of all major violinists. Jascha Heifetz played it at his final recital in 1972. The piece is further notable for the difficulty of its piano part, when compared with most of the chamber repertoire. Its technical problems include frequent extreme extended figures—the composer himself having possessed huge hands—and virtuoso runs and leaps, particularly in the second movement, though some passages can be facilitated by employing a spare hand to cover some notes.