A new and exciting edition to mark the bicentennial of Franck’s birth comes from the desk of Richard Brasier. This fine collection has been two years in the making and leaves no stone unturned in understanding Franck, the composer, the musician, his music and its performance.
The edition is published in four handsome hardback volumes and designed for a lifetime’s use. The 140,000-word preface and commentary is contained in the first, allowing performers an option rarely provided in critical editions: the ability to consult the editor’s comments on the music without having to constantly flip to the back of the book! Volumes II–IV cover the three stages of Franck’s development as an organ composer: Volume II deals with music from the years 1846–1862 and contains previously unpublished material; Volume III has pieces from 1863–1877; while Volume IV contains the mature works written between 1878 and the composer’s death in 1890.
Richard has sourced all the known Franck autographs in his quest and has made some surprise discoveries along the way that will turn quite a few heads in the process. Important features of this new critical edition include:
- A foreword by renowned Franck scholar, Marie-Louise Langlais
- An erudite preface and commentary of 140,000 words, accompanied by 219 examples, colour images, plates and facsimiles
- A thorough re-evaluation of the organ works based on every available manuscript
- The first edition since 1880 to make use of the autograph manuscript for Prélude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18
- The first published analysis of the autograph manuscript for Prélude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18
- The first publication to treat both versions of the Andantino CFF 54a and CFF 54b as independent works
- The first publication of the original ending of Final, Op. 21
- New versions of Choral II and Choral III, based solely on the autograph manuscripts
- Full colour facsimile of Pièce Héroïque (Trocadéro manuscript)
