Franckly, I’ve never been all that fond of César Franck’s Symphony in D minor. It’s no secret that I find the big theme of the last movement to be insipid. But prolonged exposure has done its work and now I at least concede the symphony’s overall greatness. Like Bruckner (a composer I have no problem with), Franck’s long experience as an organist unmistakably colors the piece. Understanding this makes it moderately more enjoyable. Still, it’s not something I would ordinarily go out of my way to listen to. I rank it perhaps just a notch above Schubert’s “Great” C major symphony, which is a total snooze. When Schumann hailed the latter work for its “heavenly length,” I can only hope he was being sarcastic.

Shakespeare’s proverb “brevity is the soul of wit” could be applied to this seasonal gem by Franck, “Panis Angelicus.” The text, by Thomas Aquinas, was actually intended for Corpus Christi, but thanks to Luciano Pavarotti and any number of other opera singers, who included Franck’s setting on their Christmas albums, I will always associate it with this time of year.

Aquinas’ text, translated from the Latin:

Thus Angels’ Bread is made
the Bread of man today:
the Living Bread from heaven
with figures dost away:
O wondrous gift indeed!
the poor and lowly may
upon their Lord and Master feed.

Thee, therefore, we implore,
o Godhead, One in Three,
so may Thou visit us
as we now worship Thee;
and lead us on Thy way,
That we at last may see
the light wherein Thou dwellest aye.
Amen.

Other composers to have set the lines include João Lourenço Rebelo, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, André Caplet, and Camille Saint-Saëns. None of the settings are as well known as Franck’s. For me, anyway, Franck’s star rises in the yeast.

“Panis Angelicus”

Sung by Pavarotti

As good a performance of the Symphony in D minor as you’re likely to get

Though I much prefer Franck’s symphonic poems, especially “Le Chasseur maudit” (“The Accursed Huntsman”)

And his lovely Violin Sonata in A major

Franck’s Piano Quintet in F minor riled his wife (and his rival, Saint-Saëns), since it evidently sprang from his illicit love for one of his pupils, Augusta Holmès

Franck’s “Grande pièce symphonique,” played by Marcel Dupré

Prelude, Chorale and Fugue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHftZ2-w4XE

Happy birthday, César Franck!