Here is my interpretation of the 2nd movement ("Choral") of César Franck's "Prélude, Choral et Fugue" (1884).
César Franck is the greatest Belgian classical composer. Although he did compose a relatively small number of works throughout his life, the quality, originality and depth of those make him one of the most appreciated 19th-century composers. While Franck was especially celebrated for his organ pieces, he did also compose piano, chamber, and even orchestra music. He developed a quite unique sentimental style with an interesting mix of polyphony, structural rigour and harmonic audacity, somewhat reminiscent of J.S. Bach's compositions.
The "Prélude, Choral et Fugue" is a piano piece in three movements featuring, well, a prelude, a "Choral" (or choir-like movement), and a fugue. The piece is characterised by drama, emotional depth, grand harmonies, and especially its cyclic form, which is very typical of Franck's music (in short, motifs from each movement are taken and mixed together in a very clever way in the last movement). Here, I am playing the second, slow movement, the "Choral", which alternates two themes. The first theme starts out in a seemingly serene way but becomes actually more and more tormented as the piece unfolds. This theme alternates with the second theme, which is played only in rolled, churchlike chords in an initially dreamy but progressively more dramatic fashion.
(There is no break between the first movement, the "Prelude", and the second movement, the "Choral", which is why I have included the last bridging notes of the "Prelude" in the beginning of this recording.)
18 сен 2024
