Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Camille Saint-Saëns, Third Symphony
- 2 César Franck, Symphony in D Minor
- 3 Édouard Lalo, Symphony in G Minor
- 4 Ernest Chausson, Symphony in B-flat Major
- 5 Vincent d'Indy, Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français
- 6 Vincent d'Indy, Second Symphony
- 7 Paul Dukas, Symphony in C
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Eastman Studies in Music
2 - César Franck, Symphony in D Minor
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Camille Saint-Saëns, Third Symphony
- 2 César Franck, Symphony in D Minor
- 3 Édouard Lalo, Symphony in G Minor
- 4 Ernest Chausson, Symphony in B-flat Major
- 5 Vincent d'Indy, Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français
- 6 Vincent d'Indy, Second Symphony
- 7 Paul Dukas, Symphony in C
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Eastman Studies in Music
Summary
A Popular Symphony
César Franck began his Symphony in D Minor late in the summer of 1887, completing two-piano drafts of its three movements on September 12, September 30, and October 27. After a six-month hiatus to attend to his duties at the Conservatoire, he commenced the orchestration the following spring, and on August 22, at the age of sixty-six, he put the finishing touches to his first and only effort in the genre. The successful premieres of d'Indy's Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français, Lalo's G-Minor Symphony, and especially Saint-Saëns's Third Symphony had perhaps piqued his interest. Members of the composer's circle also appear to have played a catalyzing role. According to Guy Ropartz, Franck took up the genre at the behest of his students, who had been pressuring him to produce a work “worthy of this name”; perhaps for this reason he dedicated the composition to his “dear friend Henri Duparc.” The Organ Symphony loomed here as well. D'Indy, Duparc, Chausson, Ropartz, and other members of the bande à Franck were at the time waging a vigorous campaign in support of their mentor. Their efforts stemmed in part from sincere conviction and admiration, but, just as important, they construed Franck's music as the historical wellspring of—and therefore an important source of legitimacy for—their own. And Franck's modest public profile was being thoroughly eclipsed by that of Saint-Saëns, whose recent symphonic triumph had sent his reputation soaring. Although little suggests that the modest Franck felt much envy of the Organ Symphony, from a franckiste perspective it appeared imperative that he reply.
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- Chapter
- Information
- The French Symphony at the Fin de SiècleStyle, Culture, and the Symphonic Tradition, pp. 55 - 89Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013