And, in swift succession, there came from his
worktable the series of compositions, the "Prelude, chorale et fugue"
for piano, the sonata, the symphonic poem "Psyche," the symphony, the
quartet and the three chorales for organ that fully disclose his genius.
There is scarcely another example in all musical history of so long
retarded a flowering.
And it was a music almost the antithesis of Saint-Saens' that finally
disclosed itself through Franck. In it everything is felt and necessary
and expressive. It is unadorned. None of the light musical frosting that
conceals the poverty and vulgarity of so many of the other's ideas is to
be found here. The designs themselves are noble and significant. Franck
possessed a rare gift of sensing exactly what was to his purpose. He had
the artistic courage necessary to suppressing everything superfluous and
insignificant. His music says something with each note, and when it has
no more to say, is silent. He is concise and direct. The Symphony, for
instance, is an unbroken curve, an orderly progression by gentle and
scarcely perceptible stages from the darkness of an aching, gnawing
introduction into the clarity of a healthy, exuberant close. And whereas
Saint-Saens' style is over-smooth and glacial, a sort of musical
counterpart of the sculpture of a Canova or a Thorwaldsen, Franck's is
subtle, mottled, rich, full of the play of light and shadow.
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