César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (1822 –
1890) was a composer, pianist, organist, and music
teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life. He
was born at Liège, in what is now Belgium (though at
the time of his birth it was part of the United Kingdom
of the Netherlands). He gave his first concerts there
in 1834 and studied privately in Paris from 1835, where
his teachers included Anton Reicha. After a brief
return to Belgium, and a disastrous reception to an
early oratorio Ruth...(+)
César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (1822 –
1890) was a composer, pianist, organist, and music
teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life. He
was born at Liège, in what is now Belgium (though at
the time of his birth it was part of the United Kingdom
of the Netherlands). He gave his first concerts there
in 1834 and studied privately in Paris from 1835, where
his teachers included Anton Reicha. After a brief
return to Belgium, and a disastrous reception to an
early oratorio Ruth, he moved to Paris, where he
married and embarked on a career as teacher and
organist. He gained a reputation as a formidable
improviser, and travelled widely in France to
demonstrate new instruments built by Aristide
Cavaillé-Coll.
In the Baroque period, the term "pastoral" tied in to
nativity music, as with the "Pastoral Symphony" from
Handel's Messiah and a number of Italian concertos. One
might expect that association to carry over to a later
pastorale for organ, an instrument with religious
connotations, but in his Op. 19 Pastorale Franck seems
to have envisioned a secular nature scene more typical
of the Romantic era, along the lines of Beethoven's
"Pastoral" symphony. This composition was published as
part of Franck's Six Pieces for Large Organ, but these
works do not constitute a formal cycle; each item
carries its own opus number and stands alone musically
from the others. The Pastorale is dedicated to the
great organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll and is a
modest display of the symphonic sonorities of the organ
Cavaillé-Coll installed at Franck's church, Ste.
Clotilde. It takes the sturdy song form ABA, with the
outer sections based on two themes. One is rippling yet
peaceful, played at a moderate tempo, and the second is
based on a series of warm, not at all imposing chords.
The central section, introduced by a trumpet-like
fanfare, slips into the minor mode and is dominated by
quick, staccato chords that produce a sense of speed
and mild tension, soothed by a more legato melody. The
A section returns after a little fugato passage, now
combining its two themes, which are tainted with a bit
of the B section's sixteenth note agitation.
Although originally created for Pipe Organ, I created
this Interpretation of the Pastorale in E Major (FWV 31
Opus 19) transposed to F Major for Wind Ensemble
(Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Bb Clarinet, Bass Clarinet,
French Horn & Bassoon).
PARTITION