The eclipse of César Franck's Symphony

[Alan Howe]

I have read somewhere recently (and it seems to me to be true) that César Franck's Symphony in D minor, while not exactly unsung, has suffered a major eclipse over the past 30 years or so (and maybe longer). A work that was once a staple among the great conductors of, say, the first 50-60 years of the last century appears now to have dropped off the radar of the conductors working today. For example, standard recommendations include recordings by Pierre Monteux (1961) and Charles Munch (1957, I think), i.e. ones made well over half a century ago. The Symphony has certainly disappeared from the concert halls and hardly ever gets any air time on the radio - in contrast to Saint-Saëns' virtually contemporaneous Organ Symphony which is almost on repeat play, it seems to me.

I'm sure that Franck's Symphony (which I grew up with and am inordinately fond of) divides opinion, although its emotional excesses (critiqued in the past) must surely now be viewed as minor when compared with those of, say, Mahler. I do occasionally wonder what the music industry's obsession with Bruckner and Mahler has done to the repertoire...

[Double-A]

I almost think that, if it weren't for the violin sonata, Franck could count as unsung.  Hardly any of his other works seem to get much attention (or indeed any at all).

The popularity of the "organ symphony" is easy to explain:  It has firstly a name ("symphony in d-minor" is not a name) and secondly an organ which makes it unique.

[Alan Howe]

The point, though, is that Franck's Symphony was a standard repertoire piece a generation (and more) ago. It seems to have gone out of fashion for some reason - at one time all the great conductors programmed it...

[Elgar4Ever]

I can go back to my earliest memories of the great Franck Symphony with Beecham's wonderful recording. As much as I love Monteux and Munch's recordings, it is the Beecham that made me love this great Symphony first.
Mentioning Beecham is important. I wonder how many young listeners are aware of this outstanding conductor's amazing recordings.

[Mark Thomas]

In the 1970s Franck's Symphony was so frequently programmed and broadcast that, to be honest, I got bored with it and even now don't play it that frequently, although I do acknowledge its quality. The same thing could be said about Weber overtures which were once staple concert openers but have all but vanished from the repertoire now. On the face of it these disappearances are inexplicable unless, of course, it's the reaction of generations of audiences, performers and promoters to that over-exposure 50-60 years ago.

[Ilja]

Just checked, and Bachtrack reveals only two performances of the symphony this season. 

David Hurwitz has been complaining for a while about the lack of sensitivity for the unconcealed romanticism of Tchaikovsky among younger present-day conductors, and that may partly explain the demise of Franck's symphony as well. One might counter that Mahler is hardly less overtly sentimental, but there's the bonus of the prestige that a Mahler performance delivers for the conductor. Like it or not, snobbery has always been a big part of the classical music world.

Finally, I think you shouldn't discount independent cultural developments which cause tastes to evolve. There is a reason that Raff and Rubinstein aren't played as much as they were in the 19th century. When I visited concerts nearly every week as a student in the 1990s, about half the programmes seemed to contain works by Bartók - not so much any longer, I'd say (at least in orchestral concerts).

[Alan Howe]

The only comfort is that the Symphony exists in a number of fine recordings and that the work is strong enough to support different interpretative approaches, from lithe and athletic (Monteux) to grand and unhurried (Karajan). How I wish, though, that one of today's top conductors would take it on...

[John Boyer]

I certainly agree with Alan. The Franck symphony, which was as popular as anything by Tchaikovsky when I was young, is now a rarity. And I agree that this is quite unfair, because it is a remarkable work. I would invite Mark, who said that he got so bored with it that that he hardly ever bothers with it now, to revisit it because the other day I listened to the Schumann Fourth (in Bernstein's first recording for Columbia) for the first time in years and I was amazed at what sheer genius the music is.  When you revisit an old warhorse after years of not listening to it, you are reminded why it was a war horse in the first place. (And when, like me, you no longer attend concerts or listen to broadcasts, you don't encounter the warhorses unless you want to.)

The Franck is one of the great works of its time, and I do recall listening to it within the past year and being reminded of how truly remarkable it is. But when you get to be a certain age -- and I think Mark, Alan, and I are of a certain age -- you have been around long enough to see changes in the repertory. I've read articles about how Sibelius has come and gone, how he was  at the height of his game in the 1930s and disappeared by the 1950s, but then came back. Now he seems to have disappeared again.

I was introduced to Raff in my teens when reading a comment by a turn of the century Boston music critic, who said that the then current warm reception for Rachmaninoff was no guarantee of future success, pointing to Raff's celebrity only 50 years before. 

The year 1973 was 50 years ago. Franck was a staple then.  Now he seems to have suffered the same fate that Phillip Hale attributed to Raff.  It's a pity, because the Franck D Minor Symphony is a masterpiece. And then there's the remarkable quintet and so many other fine things. But I digress...

[Alan Howe]

I resonate very strongly with John's post, particularly with his account of the changing fashions in music that our (older) generation has experienced. I think back to times when, as an impecunious student over 50 years ago, a friend and I would consult various record guides in the local library, thereby discovering not only what recordings were available but also what music actually existed of which we were totally unaware. I'm pretty sure that in those days there were more versions of Franck's Symphony than virtually anything by Bruckner...

[Alan Howe]

There's a very fine live performance of the 'grand and unhurried' variety with Eugen Jochum conducting the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra back in 1973 - on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXRAkBy7RVM

It's actually available as a commercial dowload - which I hadn't realised until today!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLPFQTMH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3V9UB17GHBZ3F&keywords=eugen+jochum+franck+Symphony&qid=1701634149&s=music&sprefix=eugen+jochum+franck+symphony%2Cpopular%2C103&sr=1-1-catcorr

That's 50 years ago, though! Go figure...

[Christopher]

In the 1970s Franck's Symphony was so frequently programmed and broadcast that, to be honest, I got bored with it and even now don't play it that frequently, although I do acknowledge its quality. The same thing could be said about Weber overtures which were once staple concert openers but have all but vanished from the repertoire now. On the face of it these disappearances are inexplicable unless, of course, it's the reaction of generations of audiences, performers and promoters to that over-exposure 50-60 years ago.

I wonder what that means for the music that is now overplayed to death (Rachmaninov various, Rimsky Sheherezade, Bruch VC1 etc etc.  Subject for another thread, I know, I know!)

It's news to me that the Franck Symphony used to be such a staple, I will listen to it some more.  On previous listenings I've thought it very pleasant but for whatever reason haven't rushed back to it.

[Alan Howe]

I think Classic FM and other similar radio stations have a lot to answer for: you don't have to listen for long to realise that certain pieces of music are played to death while others are completely neglected.

[Revilod]

It was the 200th anniversary of Franck's birth last year so the symphony did get a performance at the Proms. Previous to that it had been performed six times since 1980 but it was not performed in the 1960s and 70s. Perhaps there is a suggestion of a trend in the right direction then.

There has been a certain amount of snobbery over this symphony, perhaps because it's too tuneful for a "serious" symphony. I used to have an old book of record reviews which ignored it because the author did not wish to promote music he "personally disliked". R-K's Scheherazade suffered the same fate.

I live near Exeter and the Exeter Symphony Orchestra ( amateurs, of course ) performed it a couple of days ago.

[Alan Howe]

the symphony did get a performance at the Proms

Thanks - I'd forgotten it had been programmed in 2022. The BBCSO were conducted by on that occasion by Fabien Gabel.

[M. Yaskovsky]

I grew up with this recording and remember Willem van Otterloo as an advocate for Franck's symphony.
https://www.discogs.com/release/7329310-Willem-Van-Otterloo-Residentie-Orkest-Nederlands-Kamerkoor-Franck-Symfonie-In-D-Psyche