Grande Pièce Symphonique, Op. 17

Composed in 1863 and first performed at the inauguration of the new Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Church of Saint-Clotilde in Paris, the Grande Pièce Symphonique is Franck's most ambitious early organ work and a foundational document of the French Romantic organ tradition he would do so much to define. In six continuous sections — Introduzione, Allegro, Andante, Scherzo, Cantabile, and Finale — Franck created the first fully symphonic work for the organ: a large-scale composition with the structural complexity, thematic development, and dynamic range that Cavaillé-Coll's new orchestral instruments could now sustain. The cyclical return of themes across movements anticipates the cyclic procedures of Franck's later orchestral and chamber works. The work demands mastery of the Romantic French organ's registration possibilities and extraordinary stamina from the player, and remains a summit of professional organ literature alongside the Prélude, Choral et Fugue and the Symphony in D minor.