Stephen Tharp plays César Franck Prière Op. 20

César Franck (1822-1890) Prière, Op. 20 Stephen Tharp, organ Recorded live in the Cathedral of the Madeleine Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Eccles Organ Festival, 30th Season 8 October 2023 Watch the entire recital here: @ecclesorganfestival In 1864 Franck premiered his Prière in C-sharp Minor, the fifth of Six Pièces d’Orgue, at Sainte-Clotilde, the church where he was organist from 1862 until his death. It is his most profound and difficult organ work. Once dubbed a “meditation on torment,” it achieves an exquisite balance of musical interest and devotional atmosphere. The opening Andantino sostenuto is a brooding, five-voice (recall Franck’s enormous hands) exposition of the three main themes which are developed antiphonally and in triplet figures. The central Quasi recitative section provides a welcome relaxing of tension as the Trompette stop twice calls out a single line with great freedom followed by a polyphonic reply. The melody becomes more animated before a recapitulation of the themes in a tightly woven six-part contrapuntal fabric, described in the words of Franck’s student Tournemire as possessing an “intensity of expression [that] envelops itself in flames.” A set of ascending scales leads to the concluding sequences, linked by dramatic recitatives, that disappear into the gloom of a descending scale. (from the Concert Program Notes by Dr. Kenneth Udy)