Lugansky - Franck - Prélude, Fugue, et Variation

César Franck (1822 - 1890) Prélude, Fugue, et Variation for organ in B minor, Op. 18, FWV 30 (1862), arranged for piano by Harold Bauer Nikolai Lugansky, 2020 Moscow Conservatory Online Concert [0:00] I. Prélude - Antandino cantabile [3:21] II. Prélude - Lento [4:09] III. Fugue - Allegretto ma non troppo [7:14] IV. Variation - Andantino “… Coming as it does directly after Franck’s Grande Pièce Symphonique, Op 17, its title might suggest a contrasting work of neo-Baroque severity, but what could be more Romantic than the haunting oboe melody of the first movement? A typical Franckian theme, moving largely by step and emphasizing particular notes of the scale, it has two limbs, the first a flowing theme of five-bar phrases, the second a dogged affair ascending the scale in four-bar phrases (and taken up in quasi-canonic fashion by the pedals). A short bridge passage introduces the second movement, a sober fugue on a subject, vocal in character, marked cantando. Assisted by stretti, a muted climax is reached, and the music proceeds without a break to the Variation, in which the hautbois, taking the stage again, has the ‘flowing’ and ‘dogged’ themes of the first movement, but here set against rippling semiquavers.” Relf Clark