César Frank, Sonata for violin and piano

Covering their heads with a Phrygian cap, César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck and his fiancée and former student Eugénie Desmousseaux crossed the streets of Paris on February 22, 1848, to arrive safe and sound at the church where they would be married. The Phrygian cap was intended to successfully circumvent the barricades and bonfires that the rioters had installed throughout the city to force the downfall of Louis Philippe I, also called "the king of the barricades" because through them he came to the throne and because of them he had to abandon it.

The origins
Born in Liege, Belgium, in December 1822, César Franck, together with his brother Joseph, arrived in Paris in 1835 when he was only thirteen years old at the hand of his father, who aspired that his two offspring would be recognized there as great virtuosos in the way Liszt and Paganini already were. It was not too much to ask since at least César was coming from successful but brief tours in which he had given undeniable samples of his extraordinary ability with the piano.

The father's aspirations

Like many other fathers in the history of music (Leopold Mozart being the most conspicuous), Franck's father subjected his son to exhausting workdays. After entering the Paris Conservatory, he imposed upon him the composition of at least one work a year so that he could perform it in public, thus facilitating the recognition of his talent among Parisian musical circles. This ambition did not bear the fruits his father expected, and after ten years the composer decided to rebel, abandoning his father's tutelage and forming his own family by marrying the aforesaid Eugene amidst the liberal and workers' revolt of February 1848.

César Franck (1822 - 1890)

Church organist

The years to come were sullen. With little production and relegated to the role of piano accompanist, as well as organist of a couple of churches in Paris, Franck and his family led an obscure and lackluster life for ten years. Then, in 1858 he was offered to take charge of a modern and grandiose organ in the church of St. Clotilde, a post in which he performed with pleasure and commitment until the end of his days.

The rebirth

It was the beginning of the rebirth of his life as a musician, when he finally saw the doors of the concert halls open and the period in which his masterpieces came to light began. Among them, the Prelude, Chorale and Fugue of 1885, the Symphonic Variations of 1886, and the beautiful Sonata for violin and piano of 1887 stand out.

The maestro

In the twilight of his life, César Franck produced music as never before, perhaps trying to make up for the lost time. This time he did bear fruit, mainly as a maestro, becoming the musician who would initiate the incorporation of French music into the great European tradition. Through D'Indy, Chausson, Dukas, and many other disciples or followers, this would culminate at the end of the century or the beginning of the next with the appearance of the illustrious figures of Debussy and Ravel.

Sonata for violin and piano in A major

It was composed as a wedding present for his friend the Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaÿe, who played it during the wedding celebrations and later became its main disseminator. The piece is a superb synthesis of three features the composer cultivated with ardor in the last stage of his career: the Viennese classical tradition, the "cyclical form" (the main theme reappears, conveniently varied, in each movement, a form that some have postulated as his invention) and the composer's very rich, characteristic and very personal harmonic language.

Movements:

00        Allegretto ben moderato

06:11   Allegro

14:30  Recitativo - Fantasia. Ben moderato - molto lento

21:46  Allegretto poco mosso

The rendition is by Dutch violinist Frederieke Saeijs and Georgian pianist Nino Gvetadze.