Escape

Donald Macleod recounts how Franck broke free of his father's shackles to find love and marriage in the face of the 1848 revolution.

It seems as if Franck's diffident character positively hindered his advancement. He wasn't interested in moving in glamorous social circles, and lived, according to one visitor who called on him the year before he died, "like a monk". This natural reticence may be why the composer of popular works such as the Violin Sonata, the Piano Quintet, a ground-breaking String Quartet and the glorious Symphony in D found that all too often his critics were quick to find fault and were slow to recognise his worth. He had some disappointments to bear, in an age when opera was thriving, none of his four operas saw the light of day in his lifetime. Recognition for his two major choral works, La Rédemption and Les Béatitudes was to come after his death in 1890 at the age of 67.

Franck did enjoy some support. Early on, Liszt recognised his talent and did his best to help him get his work performed, and later on a band of his pupils, among them the composer Vincent d'Indy did their best to promote their beloved teacher's music.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Franck's birth, Donald Macleod spends the week delving a bit deeper into this enigmatic and complex character from his early compositions which pay homage to Liszt and the pianistic tradition of Hummel, to the wonderfully vivid pictorial canvas of Le Chasseur maudit.

While many artists fled Paris, even with civil unrest occurring on his doorstep, Franck decided to remain in the capital city. In 1851 he encountered the brand new Cavaillé-Coll organ, an instrument that led Franck to declare excitedly, "my new organ... it's an orchestra!".

L’ange et l’enfant
Tassis Christoyannis, baritone
Jeff Cohen, piano

Les Septs Paroles du Christ au croix
Pater, in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum
Valerio Contaldo, tenor
Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne
Luc Aeschlimann, cello
Laure Ermacora, harp
Marcelo Giannini, organ
Michel Corbóz, director

Ballade, op.9
Julia Severus, piano

Prélude, Fugue et Variation, op 18, M30
Hans Eberhard Ross, organ
Goll Organ of St. Martin, Memmingen

Symphonic Variations
François-Joël Thiollier, piano
Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra
Robert Benzi, conductor

Producer: Johannah Smith