Word: cesar
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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When the first performance of Cesar Franck's Symphony in D Minor was given in Paris in 1889, critics were almost unanimously indignant. Sniffed one of them: "Why play this symphony here? Who is this M. Franck? A professor of Harmonium, I believe." Cesar Franck was then 67, an advanced age for a man offering his first symphony. He had already composed his Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra, his fiery Sonata for Piano and Violin; he was an esteemed teacher. But he was still almost unknown to the Parisian public...
Paris and the world finally did hear and approve of Cesar Franck the composer, and his Symphony has become a beloved favorite of concert audiences. But even to the audiences that clamored for his music Franck the man remained unknown...
Last week, in a new addition to the slender list of Franck biographies (Cesar Franck; Philosophical Library, $4.75), British Critic Norman Demuth told a good deal about the composer. He also told a little-unfortunately only a little-about amiable, warmhearted Cesar Franck himself...