New Millennium Strings

César Franck (1822-1890)

Symphony in D Minor

Most people consider César Franck a French composer. Although he was born in Liège, Belgium, he became a Frenchman by naturalization.

Although not a wealthy man, Nicholas-Joseph provided his two sons, César and Joseph, with a formidable music education. César was a gifted piano prodigy and Joseph was a talented violinist. Members of the family referred to Nicholas-Joseph as "an evil genius" who was driven to exploit his young sons' musical talents. From the age of 12, César began concertizing, and a year later, in 1835, he enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire. With his father's determination, he saw to it that César studied with the best teachers that Paris had to offer. Franck became a piano pupil of Pierre Zimmerman and the composition protege of Anton Reicha.

Composition became Franck's captive interest. Concertizing as a pianist had lost its appeal. After June 1846, he never again performed in public as a pianist. When Franck applied for the esteemed position of organist in Paris, at Sainte-Clotilde Cathedral, he would have never believed his post would lead him to fame both as organist and composer. In 1858, he began to publish his own works, which were mostly compositions for organ and sacred choral pieces. One of his works for organ, which continues to be popular today, is the Grande Piece Symphonique. It is characterized by a large-scale symphonic design and cyclical form, which foreshadows the magnificent and colorful Symphony in D Minor (1888).

The Symphony in D Minor was not highly regarded by many of his colleagues, but Franck virtually ignored their criticisms. It was a composition that, according to Leon Vallas, broke the "formalist rules and habits of the stricter professionals" in both form and detail. For example, some people viewed it outrageous to include the cor anglais (English horn) in a symphony. Franck considered his work to be a "classical symphony." In his own words, Franck best describes his work: "At the end of the first movement there is a recapitulation" which serves he purpose of "firmly establishing the main subjects, but it is in an alien key." In the second movement, Franck chose to follow an andante section with a scherzo.

"It was my great ambition to construct them in such a way that each beat of the andante [section] should be exactly equal [metrically] to a measure in the scherzo ... and after the complete development of each section one [theme] could be superimposed on the other. In the finale ... all the themes [are recalled], but they do not make their reappearance by being strictly imitative. I have ... made each of them play an entirely new part in the music."

Franck's use of the cyclical form, his innovative use of key relationships and his original use of instrumentation sent his colleagues into turmoil. It seems apparent that as an organist, Franck realized a new application for his innovative form of symphonic writing.

-- program notes by Laurien Jones

August, 2004