Like many composers of his time, César Franck earned his living primarily as a virtuoso performer, with broad recognition of his compositions coming largely after his death. Toward the end of his career, César Franck became increasingly aware that French music lacked a major, truly integrated work for piano and orchestra —one in which the solo instrument would not merely dominate, but participate symphonically in the musical argument. Determined to address this gap, he began experimenting with the relationship between piano and orchestra. An important step in this direction was his symphonic poem Les Djinns (1884), a work inspired by Victor Hugo’s poem. Two years later, in 1885 , Franck achieved his artistic goal with the composition of the Symphonic Variations , a work of remarkable unity, balance, and enduring expressive power. Franck originally conceived the piece as a concert-form structure in which piano and orchestra would share thematic responsibility equally. Influenced by Be...
Exploring the World of Music, One Work at a Time.