An alternative exegesis of Cezar Franck`s OP.18 Prelude, Fugue and Variation: a hermeneutical approach through theoretical analysis with Caplinian terminology

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AN ALTERNATIVE EXEGESIS OF CEZAR FRANCK'S OP.18 PRELUDE, FUGUE AND VARIATION: A HERMENEUTICAL APPROACH THROUGH THEORETICAL ANALYSIS WITH CAPLINIAN TERMINOLOGY

Turhan Murathan M. Mus at Dr. Erol Uqer Centre for

Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM),

Member of Mediterranean Incubator of Emerging Artists

(MEDINEA), Royal Conservatory of Brussels Alumnus

Abstract

caplin prelude fugue variation

In this paper, not as absolute truth, I aim to explain hermeneutically, therefore suggest an alternative scenario for Op.18 Prelude, Fugue et Variation influenced by German pure music tradition (as opposed to French dramatic music tradition) through formal and harmonic analysis of the mentioned music piece primarily in compliance with McGill University theory professor William Caplin's theoretical analysis book, Bible and several biographical sources about Franc Stills from the film The Passion of the Christ (2004) Directed by Mel Gibson When He received the sour wine, Yeshua said: `It is completed', with that, He bowed His head, and delivered up His spirit. IQANNHN (YOHANNAN) / 19:30

Анотація

Турхан Муратхан Центр Інноваційних Музичних Досліджень Мр. Муза та Др. Ерола Юсера (МІАМ), Член Середземноморського Осередку Розвитку Молоді, випускник Бельгійської Королівської Академії у Брюсселі) Анкара, Туреччина (Ankara)

АЛЬТЕРНАТИВНА ЕКЗЕГЕЗА ПРЕЛЮДІЇ, ФУГИ ТА ВАРІАЦІЇ OP. 18 СЕЗАРА ФРАНКА: ГЕРМЕНЕВТИЧНИЙ ПІДХІД ІЗ ЗАСТОСУВАННЯМ ТЕОРЕТИЧНОГО АНАЛІЗУ З ТЕРМІНОЛОГІЄЮ КАПЛІНА

У представленому дослідженні, яке не претендує бути абсолютною істиною, дослідник пропонує альтернативний сценарій пояснення Прелюдії, Фуги і Варіації ор. 18 С. Франка, який він має на меті витлумачити за допомогою герменевтики, під впливом німецької традиції чистої музики (на відміну від французької традиції драматичної музики) через формальний та гармонічний аналіз композиції вищезгаданого твору, насамперед, відповідно до книги теоретичного аналізу професора Університету Макгілла Вільяма Капліна, Біблії та кількох біографічних джерел про композитора.

INTRODUCTION

Deepak Chopra once said:

«The symbolic language of the crucifixion is the death of the old paradigm; resurrection is a leap into a whole new way of thinking».

I may add to this `feeling' too. But certainly, this journey from old to new does neither contain nor emphasize separate stories but is one complete structure in itself. In Christianism, the old testament and the new testament are accepted as one holy book. Likewise, old and new can be present at our current moment when we mention, think of, remember and imagine them. Aside that, our lives that are set to move forward in time cannot be sustained without the knowledge, spirit, and many more from the past. Before, now and after, all are parts of what we call as time. Like Lord Yeshua of Nasrath in Christianism. For Franck, and us, he is a person from the past who allegedly warned the mankind about their future at his own current moment. Another nature of time, for us, is that in the flow of itself, opposite poles change their places. What I mean is, as we continue living, future becomes past, and our past is the future for those who lived and died before us. This nature of time can tell us about the cyclic nature of life. And maybe Franck deemed musical oeuvres of his as living beings, therefore set cyclic form as his compositional norm.

As to Yeshua of Nasrath, he is probably the most eminent temporal element in the life of Cesar Franck; a man from `past', a deity for all the time. As marked in Прочего Anoorolmv (The Acts of the Apostles) /1:8 «But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Yerushalayim, and in all Yehuda, and in Somoron, and unto the uttermost part of the earth», Franck probably did contemplate the lifetime of Yeshua, as a man, with this kind of consciousness and thus witness the divinity through a kind of artistic imagination. And in this testimony to the divinity, he probably advanced his music with this imagination. Even it could be said that, in music, he experienced the divinity.

What can such a musical experience of the connection with a meta-entity yield? And how can one fulfill this divine experience? Through which medium?

Lute? Vocal? Drums? Piano? Or the chief of all instrumentarium? Namely the pipe organ, an exceedingly phenomenal instrument that is a sine qua non for one of the most glorious architectural constructions in the world: (many) Christian temples. I believe that, even the most ardent atheists very likely agree with me on the fact that playing a pipe organ is shadow-castingly different experience than playing any other instrument. Because this instrument is placed in the lofts of these temples; witnesses people's and high priests' worships & prayers; witnesses God's existence; resonates with a striking acoustic, volume and timbre. Surely, Pater Seraphicus, as his pupils called Franck, was well-aware of all these properties of the organ. Thus, the success in making a concrete contact with the divinity through this splendid instrument, that supplied him a quasi-orchestra, had never made this contact regressed, on the contrary, it had thrived him and been primarily endorsed by the hours he spent with the pipe organ. In one account he told his pupil d'Indy that:

«If you only knew how I love this instrument! It is so supple beneath my fingers, and so obedient to all my thoughts».

Unfortunately, in terms of, a kind of, background information, I could not find any document about Franck's Op.18 Prelude, Fugue et Variation, because, the piece is quite suggestive, especially in terms of visualization. Other than his teacher Reicha's influence of German pure music tradition which drastically limited the extra-musical incorporations (Demuth, 1949), this pure music feature of Franck, according to Charles van den Borren, stems from his Belgian roots despite he was musically and theoretically nurtured by the musical tradition of France:

«Generosity, opulence of coloration, forthrightness, a tendency to mysticism-such are the expressions that rally come to mind when one ponders on the various manifestations of art in Belgium. The Van Eyck brothers, Roger Weyden, Memline [Memling], Breughel, Rubens, Jordaens; Gretry, Cesar Franck, Peter Benolt, Guillaume Lekeu; Verhaeren, Maeterlinck, Guido Gezelle, - all these artists, who the greatest that the soil of Belgium has produced, evoke one or the other of the above aspects. Their predominant arity is the «painter» temperament. They are «visualizers» who depict spirit landscapes with the same authority of nature. Great realists, they are likewise great visionaries, whom reality is ever present as the basis of their visions. might say that that is the true definition of art. But few appear to have taken this truth more literally than the Belgians». He even disdains some of great artists: Men like Cesar Franck or Lekeu cling closer to the soil than a Faure or a Chausson. They are rougher, less civilized, have of the "cit." With them the feeling for nature is more direct, less «literary, more visual and, in general terms, more «sensuous» in the most elevated acceptation of the word» (van den Borren & Baker, 1923).

It could be one alternative scenario to consider that Franck depicts this `old to new' journey (mainly known as `Passionem' [the Passion of the Christ]), not entirely but in a somewhat abridged way. This is also marked by W. Wright Roberts:

The struggle from darkness to light is almost a fixed habit of his musical nature. His art rarely suggests the energy which is of the external world'' (Roberts, 1922).

PRELUDE

The time signature of the Prelude movement is in compound triple meter (9/8), namely each rhythmical stress point (three times per bar), can be subdivided into three evenly spaced notes in its own regularity. Registral order of the initial motive in time completes a B minor (the main key of the piece) triad. As to the parts, rather staves, they are also in three. The notes in the MANUALE part beginning on the last rhythmical stress of the first bar are ascending thirds in stepwise motion. And in terms of similar motion, they pose three times togetherness in an undisrupted succession, (these ascending thirds are recurrent in several ways, having semantical significance will be explained in the following pages of this paper). Interestingly all these parallelisms in this movement can be seen by looking only at the first measure. Needless to indicate that the piece itself is consisted of three movements and this movement is consisted of three sections in ABA structure as diagrammed above. Also, the loosely organized sentences that constitute the sub-sections of the section A of the Prelude come three times in succession with the same thematic/motivic idea.

Such a big emphasize on the number 3 brings my mind nothing but the doctrine of the Holy Trinity which is one of the most essential assets of Christianism. But of course, as we shall see, Franck's imaginative power was not limited to this kind of symbolizations.

The first thematic statement (aVA) begins with p cantabile and ends on V/i within the area of diatonicism by bar 5 (except raised up to scale degree 6), the second one violates the diatonicism by bar 8 to tonicize the f# (although the following lead-in raises up the 7th scale degree a half tone) slightly increasing the tension along with a dynamical ripple at the surface level, and the cadential points of the first two are weakened by conjugating lead-in's. The last statement of the same theme (a³/A) begins by bar 11 but with an unprepared pm f this time and move towards the section B.

At the surface level in bars 16-17 and 18-19 there are some traces of an ephemeral struggle. A longing of Yeshua to ascend his ultimate stop; the heaven, but for that moment he keeps carrying his cross.

Once again, both from the heaven and the earth he was reminded that his destiny will be accomplished, so he must continue his journey.

These struggle & falls recur three times. Each time in three different key centers (successively b by bar 16^-d by bar 24^1# by bar 32; another reference to triad, therefore to the number of three) and each time they are followed by the heaven & earth reminders except the last time. By bar 36, this struggle gets even more intensified by fragmenting and downwardly sequencing the melody in the surface level for three bars. In bar 39 the fragments get transferred to the bottom level and again even more downwardly sequenced as if Roman imperial soldiers preventing Yeshua's ascension, keeping him occupied with his own death walk (represented by the still from the film the Passion of the Christ below).

And by bar 44 the last section of the movement begins and just a single thematic statement this time suffices to finalize it in modulated f$. Also, the cadence at bar 47 gets 2 more times repeated (another element of three, see the figure below). Until here, the story is like a forethought projection; letting the Son of God know that what is awaiting him and letting also the apostles know that what is awaiting them.

Panoramically, this ABA structure of the Prelude resembles to the exposition section of the sonata form from certain respects: The section B acts as a transition with its tonicizations and modulation to the subordinate key f$. Secondly, however the main theme returns in the last section instead of with a subordinate theme, it returns monothematically in the subordinate key). At this point, one might object as `when the main key is minor, the modulation must be made to its related major'. If we take account of the ultimate point of our journey (which is the heaven), the Passionem in the earth would remain ineffective to determine the focal point of our destiny. There is a tierce picarde at the very end of the piece (might also be another reference to the number three) which likely stands for arriving home (the heaven). Under such circumstances, the main key of the piece is no longer B minor but B major and this movement is no longer preponderated by the Fugue movement as conventionally expected.

FUGUE

In the fugue we witness to the course bringing Christianic Yeshua to crucifixion. His last supper with his apostles, his storming and `cleansing' the temple, his agony in the garden, his sermons to the Galileans, his defense of Miriam of Migdal, briefly every tumultuous event that he is involved.

The movement begins with a small introduction in simple triple meter (3/4) with a slow tempo and it is 9 bars long as if it is an augmentation of a single 9/8 bar in the previous movement. In this introduction there are three harmonically unstable, and emotionally unrestful (as if the death conviction of Christianic Yeshua) motivic statements (the last one is interpolated) squared at the top in the following page, which hints at the subject of the Fugue.

The actual fugue starts with an increased tempo and an expression of sempre cantando maybe because of the subject that can actually be sung. First theme subject lasts for 8 bars than it is followed by the answer at an upper register, it too lasts for 8 bars. By bar 19 the theme subject is heard at the top level, and lastly the answer comes by bar 27 at the bottom level. Claiming that the Bridge section, in fact, refers to bars 16-17 and/or 18-19 of the Prelude movement would be no exaggeration (compare the figure below with the figure at the top in page 3).

As the movement continues the harmonic rhythm increases, anon fragmented stretti join to the tension increase, and finally the ideas from the bridge section recur from different key point in order to bring the main tonality back, and ends the movement with a cadential 6/4, holding the bass f# to conjugate the following movement.

Majority of the fugues (that are preceded by their preludes) of the Common-Practice Era repertoire usually have structural and subjective significance. But in this piece, the Fugue movement has much more common points with the development section of the sonata form. The resemblance of the subject & answer structural units of fugue exposition to the pre-core & core structural units of the sonata form development relationship is seen once again (Caplin, 2013). Also, a conventional fugue normally has to be tightly knit, whereas the Op.18 Fugue of Franck is loosely organized. Asher Ian Armstrong explains this situation as:

«But when one examines Franck's use of the fugue, something entirely different appears. The previously mentioned Prelude, Fugue and Variation must, by its very title, indicate the secondary nature of the fugue--in this instance the Fugue is almost abortively short, and is unable to provide a satisfactory solution to the plaintively expressive Prelude; it is instead supplanted by the theme of the Prelude which returns in variation». (Armstrong, 2015).

VARIATION

First of all, when we think of the musical notion of variation in general, we usually tend to expect more artsy and sophisticated works. In this movement, it is simple and plain. According to W. Wright Roberts:

«His music is at once naive and intense, passionate and meditative. Its range of thought and feeling is, for a great master, not wide; though it knows many stages, from a rare pitch of contemplative ecstasy to a frank simple joy that is nearly play» (Roberts, 1922).

Finally, the last movement Variation begins with its brought back home key. Christianic Yeshua now is ready to walk through Via Dolorosa up to Golgotha Hill where he wills to sacrifice himself to purify the entire humanity from all their sins. Before he steps out from where he was detained, the divine energy gathered from angels, believers, tears of suffering and compassion, smiles of victory and salvation in first 6 bars of introduction heartens the tormented man and promises to accompany him until his last breath. The Passionem vision explained in the previous pages now comes into existence.

Imperial soldiers, stone throwers, spits, insults, heaviness of the cross, agony of the tortures, agony of seeing Miriam crying, agony of everything, concerning about the people you wanted to give hope, feeling your body penetrated by cold iron nails, waiting, trying to endure, suffering, losing hope, feeling oblivion, then doubt, and invoking «Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani? (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?», fear of failure, sensing the death and saying «Ze nigmar (it is fmished/completed)» losing consciousness, re-sensing the divine energy, finding peace, and in the silence, hearing the tunes of reunion. All can be imagined in this movement, but moreover, it can probably be experienced. It is, above all, a matter of faith which reminded me the beautiful quotes of my ancient colleague Saint Augustine of Hippo: «Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe».

CONCLUSION

As I mentioned in the first page, the phenomenon of time and life and their united and cyclic natures are precious and not always easy to achieve. Sometimes it may require sacrifice, courage, hard work, preserving good intention to be `completed'. As to a compositional technique, Franck used the cyclic form immensely. Nicholas Hester explains this as:

«The idea of a multi-movement work possessing the overarching effect of a singular musical journey is a fundamental aspect of Franck's compositional approach».

He continues to explain his way of `completeness':

«Unity can be attained throughout the course of an extended instrumental work: the presence of a continuous cycle, which is achieved by making each part connected to each other through motivic, harmonic and temporal relationships, to create the ultimate impression of a single path of musical direction; and an overarching sense of departure followed by a return» (Hester, 2015).

With all these in mind, should we make also a personal philosophical inference from Op. 18 of Franck? Does it, especially, concern our spiritual worlds? Today, we seem so disconnected and separated from our inner selves.

What will unite our body and spirit to make it one complete entity? Franck not only connected and unified the separate elements within Op.18 Prelude, Fugue et Variation with each other and thus completed, but also, he made a connection between Op.18 form (or cyclic form) and sonata-form, and in a sense unified them as if bringing past and future together. They dwell within one single complete structure. Could it be the matter raised as a critical question by Franck to us that should we unify and complete ourselves, and then get unified and completed with each other like our bodies that consisted of numerous cells?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. ARMSTRONG, Asher Ian (2015). The Catholic-Christian Masking of Cesar Franck and Alternative Erotic Readings of his Piano Quintet, Violin Sonata, and Prelude, Chorale and Fugue (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Toronto. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from http://hdl.handle.net/1807/69221

2. BERTRAND, Paul, & ROTHWELL, Fred (1923). Pure Music and Dramatic Music. The Musical Quarterly, 9(4), 545-555. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/738533

3. CAPLIN, William E. (2013). Analyzing Classical Form: An Approach for the Classroom. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

4. CASSAN, David (2018, February 26). David Cassan - C. Franck: Prelude, fugue and variation. Retrieved May 30, 2019, from DEMUTH, Norman (1949). Cesar Franck. London: D. Dobson https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=tiwMI6sMBdI

5. FERRARD, Jean (1991). L'oeuvre pour orgue de Cesar Franck: sources et editions. Revue belge de Musicologie / Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Muziekwetenschap, 45, 163-180. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/3686955

6. FRANCK, Cesar. (ca. 1862). Prelude, Fugue et Variation, op.18. Paris: Durand, Schoenewerk et Cie. Retrieved from http://hz.imslp.info/files/imglnks/ usimg/8/8b/IMSLP490386-PMLP9435franckcompleteworksfororganvol. 1prelude, fugue,variation,Op.18.pdf

7. FUGUE STATE FILMS (2014, November 19). Franck: Father of the Organ Symphony. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=tKXPmgeocLI

8. GOUIN, Stephanie (2017). Teleology in Cesar Franck's Prelude, Choral et Fugue (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Western University. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/452

9. GRACE, Harvey (1922). Cesar Franck, Organist: B. December 10, 1822. The Musical Times, 63(958), 840-845. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/914135

10. GRAY, Cecil (1915). Concerning Cesar Franck. The Musical Times, 56(868), 341. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/910726 GREW, Sydney (1921). National Music and the Folk-Song. The Musical Quarterly, 7(2), 172-185. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/738206

11. HESTER, Nicholas (2015). Cesar Franck - A New French Unity (Unpublished master's thesis). University of York. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10073/

12. ROBERTS, W. Wright (1922). Cesar Franck. The Musical Quarterly, 3(4), 317-328. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/726072

13. TIERSOT, Julien, & MARTENS, Frederick H. (1923). Cesar Franck (1822-1922). The Musical Quarterly, 9(1), 26-55. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/738541

14. VAN DEN BORREN, Charles, & BAKER, Theodore (1923). Belgian Music and French Music. The Musical Quarterly, 9(3), 329-342. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/738492

15. WHITFIELD ANDREWS, George (1916). Music as an Expression of Religious Feeling. The Musical Quarterly, 2(3), 331-338. Retrieved May 23, 2019, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/737891

REFERAT

Murathan Turhan (1991, Ankara)

Turhan's musical life began with Turkish folk dances through the orientation of his Turkish folk music singer & researcher father. Before higher education he studied as a violin and composition major in Ankara, Turkey. In 2016, he graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in Belgium in Music Writing & Theory department and obtained Bachelor in Arts diploma.

In Belgium, France and the Netherlands he had an opportunity to play/sing along in different genres with great musicians all around the world. In 2019, he was elected as one of the intercultural creation session trainees to l 'orchestre des jeunes de la mediteranee.

In November 2019, Athens, he presented his research at the international conference «Skalkottas Today» about Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas as the only master's degree student among many professional scholars and PhDs.

Since 2017, Turhan has been continuing his graduate education at Istanbul Technical University's Center for Advanced Studies in Music in the discipline of music theory.

РЕФЕРАТ

Муратхан Турхан (1991, Ankara)

Муратхан Турхан розпочав свій шлях у музиці, працюючи у галузі турецького народного танцю під впливом свого батька - співака і дослідника фольклору. Він вчився грі на скрипці та музичній композиції в Анкарі (Туреччина). У 2016 році після навчань на кафедрі музичної теорії та композиції Бельгійської Королівської консерваторії у Брюсселі здобув диплом бакалавра мистецтв.

Виступав у різних мистецьких жанрах з багатоманітними мистецькими колективами у Бельгії, Франції та Нідерландах. У 2019 році він був обраний одним із стажистів Сесії міжкультурної творчості Молодіжного оркестру Середземномор 'я.

У листопаді 2019 року він представив свої дослідження про видатного грецького композитора ХХ століття Нікоса Скалкотаса на міжнародній конференції «Скалкотас сьогодні» в Афінах як єдиний серед студентівмагістрантів і професійних науковців та докторів наук Туреччини.

Від 2017 року Муратхан Турхан навчається в аспірантурі Центру підвищення кваліфікації музики Стамбульського університету мистецтв з дисципліни «теорія музики».

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