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Donald Macleod sees Franck approaching his sixties firing on all cylinders, producing a succession of his most original and enduring works.

It seems as if Franck's diffident character positively hindered his advancement. He wasn't interested in moving in glamorous social circles, and lived, according to one visitor who called on him the year before he died, "like a monk". This natural reticence may be why the composer of popular works such as the Violin Sonata, the Piano Quintet, a ground-breaking String Quartet and the glorious Symphony in D found that all too often his critics were quick to find fault and were slow to recognise his worth. He had some disappointments to bear, in an age when opera was thriving, none of his four operas saw the light of day in his lifetime. Recognition for his two major choral works, La Rédemption and Les Béatitudes was to come after his death in 1890 at the age of 67.

Franck did enjoy some support. Early on, Liszt recognised his talent and did his best to help him get his work performed, and later on a band of his pupils, among them the composer Vincent d'Indy did their best to promote their beloved teacher's music.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Franck's birth, Donald Macleod spends the week delving a bit deeper into this enigmatic and complex character from his early compositions which pay homage to Liszt and the pianistic tradition of Hummel, to the wonderfully vivid pictorial canvas of Le Chasseur maudit.

The last decade of Franck's life found him enjoying financial security, public recognition and a renewed enthusiasm for composition. There was the occasional hiccup though.

Symphony in D
III: Allegro non troppo (excerpt)
Orchestre de Paris
Semyon Bychkov, conductor

Rebecca
Nous marchions avant de l’aurore (Camel drivers’ chorus)
Choeur de chamber de Namur
Thibaut Lenauts, conductor

±Ê°ùé±ô³Ü»å±ð, Aria et Final
±Ê°ùé±ô³Ü»å±ð
Bertrand Chamayou, piano

String Quartet in D major
IV: Finale Allegro molto
Danel Quartet

Chorale no 3 in A minor, M40
David M Patrick, organ
Organ of The Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban

Symphony in D (1889)
III: Allegro non troppo
Orchestre de Paris
Semyon Bychkov, conductor

Producer: Johannah Smith