Which is your favourite Franck Choral?

[jhnbrbr]

The first is my favourite (by a narrow margin) but I haven't found a Youtube recording I liked - not until today. Nathan Laube interprets it beautifully, the recording is nice and clear, and that all-important Vox Humana is quite delicious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tare6rI_d-s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOoc6rj3X2U

[musicalis]

I prefer the choral number 2.
But have you heard this very special variation of the choral in B minor ?

Variation on choral n°2

[wljmrbill]

For ease of listening to the adverage listerner I would say definately No 1 in E , for a more professional group I would say the No 3 in a minor. But i also like the b minor too.. hard to really choose..... but No. 1 in E comes on top of my list overall.

[Krummhorn]

I chose No 3 in A minor ... mainly because that's the one I have done in concerts over the years. Always a favorite among my listeners - especially the Adagio, which I have used for offertoire and/or communion during services.

I only wish I had a bit more oomph in my church organ ... but with some imagination and careful registration, it comes out pretty nice on just 9 ranks.

[jhnbrbr]

Thanks for your opinions - it looks pretty even at the moment. There's no doubt each one is quite special - Prof Ian Tracey once said his favourite was whichever one he happened to be playing at the time!

Hi Jean-Paul, yes I listened to your homage when you first posted it. It's an enjoyable work in its own right, and it's quite amazing how the original choral is still present, even though the musical language is completely different. Are your themes derived from Franck's in some way?

Like the string quartet, these amazing works prove Franck was absolutely on top of his game at age 68. If only the old fool had taken a bit more care crossing the road, he might have lived another ten years, and who can say what other priceless gems he might have left us? Still, there's enough to be going on with ...

[dll927]

All three are jewels, but somehow I've long had a special liking for the b-minor. It has sometimes been called "almost a passacaglia" because of all the repetition of that opening pedal theme.

No doubt, the adagio in #3 is about as sublime as anything ever put to paper (or pipes).

I once read someplace that #1 is the longest, #2 is the most difficult, and #3 is the most popular. Who's to say??

It is said that Franck completed the chorales on his deathbed. It probably can't be documented, but surely he must have had some time (before he was hit by the carriage) to try out at least parts of them himself at St. Clotilde. How long were they germinating in his mind?

Franck had something of a penchant for repetition of themes, and not always in just the same formation. Just about anything he wrote shows that. The infamous "Grande Piece Symphonique" ends with just about a recap of everything that went before.

But I digress -- this asked about the chorales!!

[dll927]

Going a bit beyond the chorales, the "Piece Heroique" seems to be considered
Franck's most-played piece. I printed out a PDF of it, and just looking at the pages, it is so full of accidentals that anyone who manages to play it probably deserves a medal. Of course, he was rather fond of sharps, so that helps.

Speaking of the vox humana, I've long been fond of the Fantaisie in A, which ends with a quiet section on said stop (as does the b-minor chorale). Not long ago, there was a You-Tube of Marcel Dupre playing the Fantaisie in A, but so darned slowly that you almost get lost between the notes!!

Franck's "dozen" are all well-deserving of whatever fame they may have. It's a shame that we don't have any recordings of him actually playing them.

[jhnbrbr]

Franck's "dozen" are all well-deserving of whatever fame they may have. It's a shame that we don't have any recordings of him actually playing them.

Earlier this year someone claimed to have discovered a recording by Eddison of Franck playing his "Priere" but it turned out to be an April Fools prank. It's quite possible that we wouldn't think much of his playing today. I remember reading somewhere that he played the organ very rubato, and "rolled" the chords, but then he was a pianist in his young days. I recently came across some recordings of Albert Schweitzer on YT, and even after making allowances for the sound quality, I'm pretty sure Schweitzer would not be considered much of a performer by modern standards.

One puzzling thing about Franck's "Chorals" is the name, which usually implies the use of an existing chorale melody. "Fantasy on an original chorale-like theme" would be more accurate, if a bit long-winded.

[Soubasse]

I've played all three a number of times over the years and speaking personally, I'd have to say the most fun (and the most rewarding) has always been No.3. I agree with dll in that the adagio of the 3rd is one of the most superlative and sublime sections of music ever written. Often in practice, I'll play it incredibly slowly just so I can milk each and every one of those magnificent chord changes underneath (or on top of) that melismatic theme. He was master harmonist for sure as also proven in the final few bars leading to the supremely eargasmic cadence.

[Krummhorn]

The sequence following the adagio (in No 3) where the melody line is intertwined is another favorite part of mine.

I have used No 1's first movement as a prelude on occasion, too ... we don't have a Vox .. so I fake it with the swell celeste ranks coupled to the great 4' Gedeckt with the trem added. We make do with what resources we have sometimes.

[acc]

Like dll927, I love all three but am especially fond of the B minor. Together with the Prière, it is Franck's very heart — at least, that's the way I feel it.

[Corno Dolce]

Hi there "Organistes et Aficionados",

Just to let you know that all's well with wife and quadruplets
Now, the B-minor is my fav by far and I have a soft spot for the "Priere". Franck's plangent pathos and bathos in the B-minor and Priere pierce me to the core - A cri de coeur in other words...

Cheers,

CD

[dll927]

About performances and recordings -- chances are, it's true that some players of yesteryear might not seem up to today's standards. I have a copy (in English translation) of Schweitzer's autobiography, in which he has a whole chapter devoted to organs and playing. He's somewhat opinionated, but he makes the remark that Bach is "played altogether too fast".

I sometimes wonder if that might not be the key. With modern organs, do many organists tend to play at faster tempi than was once the norm? Moreover, acoustics in a church or hall can make a difference. It would seem that, in a place with a long reverberation, fast tempi, especially with baroque-style music or anything with toccata-like passages would come across as just a lot of noise with little attention to individual 'voices'.

I have a complete set of Beethoven's symphonies done by the Chicago Symphony under Sir George Solti. In the booklet he makes quite a to-do about faster tempi than were once "standard". But supposedly Ludwig left 'metronome markings' for them. If true, why did it take conductors 150 years to discover them? So some of this is a matter of opinion, I suppose.

It seems to be documented that Widor was highly reluctant to do recordings -- partly because of his age by then, and probably also because in those days recording equipment could do little justice to the situation. It seems to have been when "high fidelity" recording came along in the 1950's that the organ suddenly became the test of recording.

All in all, there is probably some truth to the idea that things were different a few generations back.

[mathetes1963]

Speaking of the vox humana, I've long been fond of the Fantaisie in A, which ends with a quiet section on said stop (as does the b-minor chorale). Not long ago, there was a You-Tube of Marcel Dupre playing the Fantaisie in A, but so darned slowly that you almost get lost between the notes!!

Not to mention that Dupre uses the voix celeste instead on that piece.

[jhnbrbr]

Hi there "Organistes et Aficionados",

It's good to see you around again C.D. and congratulations on the four little cornos!