Kelvin H. F. Lee

This article confronts the prevailing idea that César Franck’s cyclic form is chiefly a technical innovation, a perception which is shaped by Vincent d’Indy. It reassesses the cyclic ‘technique’ underlying Franck’s symphonic thinking via the lens of his other student, Charles Tournemire, who placed improvision at the core of Franck’s thematic treatment. Comparing d’Indy’s and Tournemire’s accounts, I posit that Franck’s improvisational practice potentially plays a crucial role in the formation of the cyclic procedures that inform his symphonic formal design. Special attention is given to the form-functional issues engendered by such procedures in the openings of two of Franck’s closely connected symphonic works, Grande pièce symphonique (1863) and Symphony in D minor (1887–88). Drawing on William E. Caplin’s study of form-functionality in improvisational genres, I demonstrate that the formal disruptions unsettling the conventions in the Symphony could be traced back to the extemporaneous habits evinced in the Grande pièce symphonique. This thereby calls for a closer examination of the connection between Franck’s two modes of musical thinking as a composer and an improviser, the result of which, I suggest, would shed new light on the understanding of Franck’s musical creativity.