To be Franck

César Franck has sometimes been unfairly dismissed by critics as plodding and passé, but as we mark the BelgianFrench composer’s 200th anniversary, Roger Nichols says there is much to admire in his colourful melodic language

- Roger Nichols

Franck is something of a Marmite composer. I have musical friends who can’t stand his music at any price. But for those of us who admire his memorable melodies, his orchestral colours, his wonderful control of long passages and his unmistakably personal voice, he is a composer to treasure.

Three periods

Ever since Beethoven’s life and works were divided into three periods, it has been standard to do the same with other composers, often unthinkingly. But with Franck it’s entirely accurate. The first period, from his birth in 1822 to 1846, covers his youth and subservience to his father Nicolas-Joseph, during which it’s no overstatement to say that he couldn’t call his life his own – driven as he was to be a barnstorming pianist who brought home the money and who could turn his hand to writing flashy music for the instrument.

The second period, from 1846 to around 1872, saw him leaving home, marrying, settling down as a choirmaster and organist, and exploring the possibilities of writing operas as well as church music. It also saw the beginning of his friendship with Liszt. The final period, from around 1872 until his death in 1890, embraces most of the music by which he is now remembered, and the formation of ‘la bande à Franck’, the group of his pupils that included d’Indy, Duparc and Chausson, as well as Pierre de Bréville and Alexis de Castillon, with d’Indy especially energetic in promoting Franck’s musical language and structures as ideals for the 20th century.