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Cesar Franck Writing Style

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César Franck was one of the most sought-after and remarkable composers of the 19th century. Born in Liège in 1822, Franck received his musical instruction at the age of eight at Liège Conservatoire. In 1834, he gave the first public concert in Liège. After moving to Paris in 1835, Frank entered the Conservatoire where he studied counterpoint with Leborne and piano with Zimmermann. It was during his student years at the Paris Conservatoire which Franck composed his first serious works, three trios for piano, violin and cello, that foreshadows his late style music, concluding the early use of cyclic form. 
 In 1858, Franck was appointed as an organist at Sainte-Clotilde, which leads to his combinations of organ techniques reflected in his late …show more content…

After acquiring the professorship Franck wrote several pieces that have entered the standard classical repertoire, including symphonic, chamber, and piano works.
 As one of the great organists, Franck composed significant works for organ and have adapted the technique into his piano writing. The sonority that was best-suit to church acoustic, and the improvisational features beautifully display in his works. 
 One of Franck’s longtime celebrated works, the Prelude, Chorale and Fugue, was composed in 1884. His exploration in the complete piano resources clearly shown in this grand work, as presented in Prelude—lyrical, Choral—chordal, and Fugue—contrapuntal. The essence of this piece lies in the theme which is “Cross motive” referring to the birth, death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And presenting the goodness overcoming the evil, in the dark key and solemn, painful character of prelude, jointed the two by the serenity of chorale and ended in victorious melodic and harmonic development in fugue. Franck proved his mastery of variation in this grand piece. His original plan was to write a Prelude and Fugue, and the idea of the choral was constructed when he felt that the two needs the …show more content…

The chorale fulfilled the lack of ‘cantabile’ and sustained melody, the chorale served as the relieve from the rush of the Prelude and lead to the Fugue.
 Franck gave to the Prelude Chorale et Fugue the sense of being grounded in baroque practice. His inspirations were Bach, Beethoven’s sonatas, Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, and Liszt’s Weinen Klagen variations. There is a close reflection of Wagner’s Parsifal in the melody of the chorale. The Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue, “in its basic ideas, as well as their technical expression for the instrument...wielded a powerful influence over the rising generation of composers in offering them a kind of ideal to follow, a complete expression of the ideals that were opposed fundamentally to the superficial music then in popular favour.” 
 In d’Indy’s biography of his teacher, he tells us of Franck’s sudden interest in the piano and how he came to write the Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue: 
 “César Franck, struck by the lack of serious works in this style, set to work with a youthful fervour which belied his sixty years to try if he could not adapt the old aesthetic forms to the new technique of the piano, a problem which could only be solved by some considerable

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