Franck-ly speaking, Part XII: Fantaisie in C

This is the twelfth and final installment in a series on my take on playing the twelve large works of César Franck. Today’s topic is the Fantaisie in C. See the first post in the series for background information.

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This is the first of the big twelve that Franck published. Clearly it is also the most primitive. You can see him trying to expand things, which he did in spades in the next piece, the Grande Pièce Symphonique. Here we have a mini-symphony, three short movements played without pause and interrupted by two short interludes.

Measures 7-8, 11-12, 47-48: Those hairpins should be tiny, not eventful. Again, since Franck was in invention mode, then those swells might be no more than the wind section of the orchestra breathing a tiny bit more expansively for a moment. Listen carefully to the effects there. All Franck had to do was tap a bit on his spring-loaded swell lever, and the box would swell and shut in a short moment.

Measures 17-40: The canon should sound the same in both voices. Don’t make one voice linger for the other; each has to carry its own baggage. And throughout this section, you'll need to make some decisions regarding voice breaks or ties. There are a few spots where a voice in the canon has to break in order to repeat. This forces a phrase break, which brings into question doing the same thing in other places to make the phrasing match, even if a note is not repeated. Listen carefully for complete voice independence.

Measure 27: I take the upper A with the right hand, because I'll do the same in measure 39, across two manuals. Might as well make them match.

Measures 29-40: The right-hand melody is a counter-melody. I would make its contour fit with the canon still going on in the other voices. In other words, don’t dwell on this melody at the expense of the more structural activity going on under it.

Measure 43: There is errata evidence that the rhythm of the upper voice should be changed to match measure 3.

Measure 46: I feel the lower voice should match that of measure 6, not just to match but rather because the third of the triad disappears on the third beat otherwise, leaving a hollow sound that doesn't match the richness of the rest of the movement.

Measure 57: I feel this moment has more impact if I begin that measure immediately following the fermata of 56. A more jarring surprise into F Minor that way.

Measures 58 and 60: Keep counting. No fermatas necessary. Franck wrote some expectancy into the rests as they are.

Measure 65: I recommend playing this section on adjacent manuals. There are "thumbing" opportunities in 92 and 94 that might benefit. However, that would add a layer of complication when the "real" Great has to be ready for measure 101. This is not a problem when the Great is on bottom, but if your Great is in the middle, you may need to experiment with pistons and/or quick manual changes to prepare for 101.

Measure 73: I would be very conservative with the box and the fermata here. It’s only a half-cadence, not a sandwich break! And I would take the ensuing eight rest back in tempo, rather than an arbitrary length of time. See discussion below for measures 82 and 162.

Measure 75: There is no melodic rest here to match measure 66. One has to wonder if there should be. Other similar places do have the rest: 77, 155, 157. By contrast, see measures 82, 91, 147, 152, 153, 162, and 171, which are less insistent one way or the other. Of those just mentioned, only 82 adds a clarifying slur.

Measures 82 and 162: I would suggest the second beat be in tempo, rather than adding a fermata to the quarter rest. That would help propel the melody into the next measure.

Measure 112, downbeat: Left hand is not marked staccato, and I feel that's okay. Read carefully.

Measures 213-end: No 32-foot stop? Play the entire Pedal part an octave lower. Interesting that Franck wrote it in the tenor range the way he did, as if he knew that 8vb could be an option. But if you do that, then you’ll need to figure out what to do about that low B in 233. Look around and see if you’d like to move to the tenor range for more than just that one note. For example, you might play loco from 229 and then switch back to 8vb with the E (or A) in 233.

And with that, Franck’s first piece has been covered last in this series. And his Final was covered first. There is nothing dramatic about any of that – I just learned and wrote about the pieces in the order I wanted to!