César Franck and Joseph Jongen

When discussing organ music composed in France during the Romantic period, it is imperative to mention César Franck. Though his compositional output for the organ is smaller compared to his contemporaries, such as Widor and Guilmant, these works remain cornerstones of the repertoire that have stood the test of time. Franck was born in Liège in 1822. His father aspired for a virtuoso career for him and in 1836 they emigrated to Paris. He was enrolled in the Paris Conservatory in 1837. Franck enrolled in the organ class at the conservatory in 1842, which would be the beginning of a prolific career as an organist. In 1857, Franck was appointed as organist at Sainte-Clotilde and in 1871 was appointed as organ professor at the Paris Conservatory, positions he held until his death in 1890. Franck’s large hands create problems of interpretation for performers, with wide intervallic spreads constantly found throughout the manual writing in his organ works. These problems make it difficult to play certain passages with a legato technique. It is this legato technique that Marcel Dupré and Charles-Marie Widor criticized Franck for not being able to demonstrate, though his work on the 1881 Braille edition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s works demonstrates Franck’s knowledge and application of the complete legato style. The Trois Chorals are the pinnacle of Franck’s writing for the organ, written in the final months of Franck’s life. Four primary editions of the Chorals are discussed and the variances that occur between them. Following this discussion is an analysis of the performances in recordings by Charles Tournemire, Jean Langlais, Marcel Dupré, and Gillian Weir of Franck’s Choral No. 3 in A Minor. The analysis focuses on key moments of interpretive discrepancy. Joseph Jongen wrote more than thirty organ works, with the Sonata eroïca and Symphonie concertante as major landmarks in the instrument’s repertoire. Jongen was active in the years immediately following Franck’s death through World War II. Born in Liège, Jongen had an early start as a composer and organist. Jongen enrolled in the organ class at the Liège Conservatory in 1892, winning top prize with honors at the Concours Supérieur in 1896. Jongen won the Belgium Prix de Rome in 1897, which enabled him to travel to Europe. During this time, he consulted with Richard Strauss and Vincent d’Indy regarding his compositions. Jongen’s magnum opus among his solo works for organ is the Sonata eroïca (Op. 94). In this symphonic-inspired work, Jongen presents unique registrations and ambiguous moments of registration changes, creating problems that the performer must solve, which are different from one instrument to another.