Choral in B minor – César Franck скачать в хорошем качестве

Choral in B minor – César Franck

Senior recital, 10/29/15, Provine Chapel at Mississippi College. Known as the father of French organ music, Franck served as the organist at the Basilica of Saint Clotilde for many years. As the famous pianist Liszt once said, “[Franck’s] poetic works have a clearly marked place alongside the masterpieces of Bach.” The Trois Chorales, written in 1890, are Franck’s final compositions, and represent the pinnacle of his artistic ingenuity. Franck uses the term chorale not to imply its German definition as a Lutheran hymn melody, but rather to describe an original theme harmonized in the style of a chorale. His second chorale, in b minor, opens with a mournful theme in the bass. This theme suggests the tolling of a great bell as it moves from melancholy opening through an avalanche of sound. Later on, the theme resurfaces in the manuals, and the middle of the piece contains a fantasia-like section typical of many Franck compositions. This fantasia does not contain the passacaglia theme, which reappears in the escalating emotion of the latter half. The chorale bears some resemblance in form to Bach’s Passacaglia in C Minor, but Franck incorporates a distinct French Romantic flair with the use of reeds, rubato, and the tremolo. After a journey through variations that exhibits the full color palate of the organ, the piece closes peacefully in B Major.