La Bande à Franck, Chapter 2
- samuelhmagill
- Jul 17
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 28
Born in 1847, Augusta Mary Ann Holmès was probably the only female pupil in composition among Franck's circle. Wikipedia claims that Melanie Bonis was also a student of Franck's, but this cannot be corroborated. Besides, none of the biographies of Franck nor even of d'Indy make a single mention of her name. Holmès was Irish, the accent grave having been officially added to her name upon her naturalization as a French citizen. She was accepted as a private student of Franck's in 1876. Women were still not admitted to the Paris Conservatoire as composition majors in this period. Most of the books on this subject were written from the 1940s until the early 1980s, which means that casual misogyny is rife in these pages on the subject; for example, her works were and still are considered mainly too 'masculine' in style. And she was a real independent spirit, determined to make her way in that hyper-masculine world. The result is an aggressive, even martial quality in her writing. Nothing pleased her more than to compose her Triumphal Ode for the 1889 Paris World's Fair utilizing a 1,200-voice choir. Among her works are numerous tone poems for orchestra, many of which are very stirring, such as Irlande and Roland furieux, symphonies including Lutèce (1877), four operas, and over 100 songs. By 1890, she had essentially given up on serious composition due to numerous setbacks. She became an alcoholic and died in 1903, aged only 56.
Holmès never married but lived with the novelist, poet, and essayist Catulle Mendès, with whom she produced 3 daughters.
I feel strongly that, even though Augusta never achieved the kind of world fame she set out for herself, just to have written an opera which was accepted for performance by none other than that august and intimidating institution, the Opéra de Paris, would have provided anyone else with more than sufficient cause for immense pride!
Henri Dallier (1849-1934), was a student in Franck's organ class at the Conservatoire. He won 1st prizes in both organ and fugue in 1878. In 1905 he succeeded Gabriel Fauré as organiste titulaire at the huge church of La Madeleine.
Vincent d'Indy (1851-1931) requires far less of an introduction than most of the other Franckists. Still, despite his international fame, most of the music by this prolific composer remains unknown to 21st-century audiences. A member of an old aristocratic family from the southeastern region of France known as the Ardèche, Vincent could have stylized himself as Count d'Indy, but chose not to elevate his stature in that manner. Young Vincent was raised by his grandmother in a strict atmosphere of rigorous studies in all subjects, from dawn until sunset, including music, which Countess Rezia considered essential to a well-rounded individual. He was also raised to be a devout Catholic, fervently patriotic, and a supporter of the armed forces. At the age of 19, Vincent enlisted to fight in the Franco-Prussian War. The following year, he began his studies at the Paris Conservatoire with César Franck against the turbulent and frightening Paris Commune, during which there was a great deal of violence and even assassination.
As an independently wealthy man, d'Indy never had to worry about making a living, yet he decided early on to become a professional musician. He even went so far as to join the Colonne Orchestra as a percussionist to gain valuable experience. At the same time, Vincent made the nearly obligatory pilgrimage to Bayreuth, where he attended the entire Ring of the Nibelungs in 1876, instantly becoming a convert to Wagner's world. At the same time, d'Indy was a classicist and always maintained that Beethoven was the ultimate inspiration. In d'Indy's mind, it was Beethoven and Wagner who together formed a synthesis culminating in the great art of Franck, whose own models were Bach and Beethoven.
Music in France during the 2nd Empire of Napoleon III (1851-1870) was largely devoid of the predominance of instrumental composition. Opera was by far the favored genre, so it was left to Saint-Saens and d'Indy, among many others, to inject the classicism which had been dominant in Austria and Germany since Haydn. D'Indy made it his life's mission to create the conditions in which instrumental composition was to find its inspiration. The lasting effect of all his efforts was the founding of the Schola Cantorum de Paris, established as a rival to the prestigious Paris Conservatoire, which remains strong to the present day. It had long been a dream of d'Indy's to educate more well-rounded musicians; at the Schola, that included a rigorous course in 16th-century counterpoint, something that was never taught at the Conservatoire, an unimaginable prospect to us in the present day.
Another enormous contribution to French musical art was d'Indy's 1,050-page Cours de Composition Musicale, published in 1912. This work attempted to combine virtually everything a musician should know to embark on a music career. D'Indy decided to assign three main epochs in Western music:
1 Rhythmo-monodic period, from the 3rd to the 13th century.
2. Polyphonic period, from the 11th to the 18th century. (1) It is difficult to assign precise dates, a beginning, and an end to each of these great periods, because they naturally overlap with each other in terms of the manifestations that define their character; the demarcations we give here are therefore only approximate, taking as a starting point the oldest musical texts that are sufficiently known and reliable.
3. Metrical Era:
FOREWORD from the 17th century to the present day. Thus, in this first book, the student will be called upon to study successively: Rhythm, the primitive and primordial element of all art, and its special application to Music (chap. 1); Melody, derived from language through accent (chap. 11) B Graphic signs representing rhythm and melody (chap. m) and Musical forms limited to these two elements (Rhythmo-monodic period, chaps. 4, 5). He will then study: the origin and theory of Harmony (chap. v1), serving as a basis of Tonality (chap. vII) and contributing with it to Expression (chap. vii); Then the History of this theory of Harmony (chap. 19) and its Application in melodies.
As can be seen, this is a most amazing work!
As stated, the young d'Indy attended the first complete Ring cycle at Bayreuth in 1876 and was utterly under its considerable spell for many years. Among the first works of the 1870s was the well-known triptych, Wallenstein, op. 12. He composed a great deal of chamber music throughout his life, and among the works in the 1870s are the Trio for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, and an early Piano Quartet, op. 7.
Other large orchestral works are the Poème des montagnes, op 15, and what became his most celebrated piece, the Symphonie Cévenole, op. 25. This is unusual in that it is not really a symphony in the usual sense, but a form of piano concerto in which the piano is an obligato instrument within the fabric of the orchestra.
The composer's first major work for the stage is the grand Wagnerian opera, Fervaal, op. 40, written between 1889 and 1893. The libretto is by d'Indy himself, and its world premiere was given at the Théatre de la Monnaie on March 12, 1897. It then moved to Paris's Opéra-Comique in 1898. D'Indy based his libretto on a Scandinavian drama by the Swedish playwright Esaias Tegnér. The opera is heavily influenced by Parsifal, and much of the dramatic action revolves around the theme of paganism vs. Christianity. This opera was influential in showing the French public what a profound movement Wagnerism was. He wrote 4 operas in all, one called L'etranger and his last opera, La Légende de Saint-Christophe.
As for d'Indy's music for cello and piano, there is the charming, neoclassical Sonata in D Major, op. 84 (1924-25). During the last twenty years of his life, d'Indy somewhat withdrew from public life after the death of his wife. This left him with ample time for reflection, and he turned towards neoclassicism rather than the massive forces of Wagnerism. Among these works is one so unusual that, to my knowledge, no one has ever written another one like it: The Triple Concerto, op. 89 from 1926, scored for Flute, Cello, Piano, and String Orchestra. On the surface, it sounds like pages from a Baroque Concerto Grosso, but the complex chromatic harmonies and difficult rhythms are big surprises. The Concerto is very successful, if a tad dry, but d'Indy was usually more concerned with form and counterpoint rather than overwhelming passion.
There is one additional work, the Lied, op 19, for Cello and Orchestra, and I may perform this on one of my "Franck" recitals if time leaves me with no choice. Next up, organist and composer Samuel Rousseau.
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