麻豆约拍

Franco-Belgian composer C茅sar Franck鈥檚 career as a composer did not fully develop until later in his life, throughout which he had been a student, organist and teacher. In fact, most of his well-known works were completed within the last decade of his life: the 1880s.

Franck鈥檚 Symphony in D minor is probably his best-known orchestral work. Composed in 1888, it fused French and German orchestral tradition, and was influenced by Wagner and Liszt. Because of tensions around the performance and influence of German music, stemming from the Franco-Prussian War, Franck struggled to get the symphony premiered, though its first performance did eventually take place at the Paris Conservatory in 1889. Although it wasn鈥檛 received well, the symphony did gain popularity after Franck鈥檚 death in 1890.

This Classics with NOW performance took place in 2004, in Swansea鈥檚 Brangwyn Hall, under the baton of Richard Hickox.