César Franck - Prélude, Choral et Fugue. FWV.21 (Levy)

César Franck (1822 - 1890)
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Prélude, Choral et Fugue. FWV.21 (1884)
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Ernst Levy (1895 - 1981)
Recorded in 1954

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Prélude, Choral et Fugue, FWV.21 is a work for solo piano written in 1884 by César Franck. This work is an exemplar of Franck's distinctive use of cyclic form.

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As the name implies, it comprises three movements: a prelude, a chorale and a fugue. The interconnectedness and thematic relationships (particularly the cyclic recall of the Prelude and Chorale in the Fugue) make this an unorthodox example of double-function form.

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Prélude (0:00)
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The music begins straight away in the key of B minor with a melody played in the middle of an arpeggiated accompaniment.

After seven bars, Franck draws attention to a time signature change 2/4 for one bar that is marked a capriccio. This one bar contains the kernel of one of the first main theme that is referred to throughout the work. The time signature changes back to common time as the kernel is expanded for a few measures before the prelude figuration heard in the beginning returns. The first theme reappears and is explored further. The prelude returns and leads directly to a two-bar transition to the Chorale.

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Choral (5:25)
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The key changes to C minor as the subject for the following fugue is partially revealed before the chorale proper sounds out by large rolled chords with the melody in the high treble.

The music follows this pattern of subject - chorale until the music modulates to the key of E-flat minor in the chorale.

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Fugue (12:00)
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After a few bars of transition, the music modulates back to the home key of B minor. The music rumbles in anticipation and leads to the beginning of the fugue.

The fugue progresses with the fugue subject weaving its way through key changes as Franck explores the theme. All of the exploration leads to a cadenza of rapid 16th notes that lead to the reappearance of the prelude and its theme, which is itself explored and expanded. The chorale theme also reappears in a different guise. The fugue and chorale themes intertwine, and the music changes key to B major. Pieces of themes are heard in a grand coda that ends the piece.