R. J. Stove is an organist who has publicly performed several of César Franck’s pieces. He is also the author of articles on a variety of musical topics, which have seen publication in Modern Age, The University Bookman, The New Criterion, Organ Australia, Britain’s Musical Times, and other periodicals. His books include A Student’s Guide to Music History (2007), The Unsleeping Eye (2003), and Prince of Music (1990).
Nineteenth-century composer César Franck spent most of his career
teaching at the Conservatoire de Paris and serving as organist at
Sainte-Clotilde. Only late in life did he achieve fame through a
handful of important chamber and orchestral compositions, several
of which continued to be performed regularly during the first half
of the 20th century. Franck's reputation has suffered, however,
since the 1960s. Stove (a performing organist based in Melbourne,
Australia) has produced a fresh, eminently readable biography of
the composer, the first in English to be based on extensive
familiarity with (and translation of) the composer's letters and
other primary sources. With the goal of inspiring "better
comprehension of Franck himself," the author focuses on Franck's
life and the critical reception of his music while the composer was
alive and in the century since his death. The result is a fine (and
often entertaining) introduction to the man, his compositions, and
the political, social, and cultural contexts that shaped both
Franck and his music....Summing Up: Recommended.
*CHOICE*
R.J. Stove’s intensively researched biography of Belgian French
composer César Franck (1822-1890) has striking merits. Stove writes
exquisitely, in periodic sentences, and manages to make detailed
discussions of musicology an aesthetic experience for experts and
neophytes alike. He also blends his musical discussions with
well-told anecdotes, the most appealing of which is his recounting
of Franck’s passion for a young beauty with an Irish father,
Augusta Mary Anne Holmès.
*The American Conservative*
Stove notes a resuscitation of interest in Franck starting in 1990,
the 100th anniversary of the composer's death, with a flurry on
concert performances and new recordings of long neglected works.
Never before has his music been so readily available in commercial
recordings.
*American Record Guide*
This book is not quite for the ordinary reader, but having said
that, it would be a huge compliment to give someone a copy of it.
It would be a way of saying, “You have sufficient general education
and interest in music to make this of more than passing interest to
your good self.
*Quadrant: The Journal of the C.G. Jung Foundation*
Stove has done an admirable job in evoking Franck and his world, as
well as giving us a fairly balanced appreciated of his life’s
work…. Interesting connections made between people and
compositions, as well as the author’s own insights, attest to the
depth of Stove’s research.
*Limelight Magazine*
This book will not be the last word on Franck, but Stove presents
us with a readable portrait which will certainly appeal to those
for whom Franck is still a bit of a mystery.
*Salisbury Review*
What makes Stove’s biography especially interesting is not just the
author’s own musical expertise, which enables him to go way beyond
a standard biographer in analysing Franck’s work, but the way he
weaves in the historical background… Cesar Franck: His Life and
Times reminds us that artistic geniuses don’t have to be tortured
souls with problematic personalities.
*Spectator Australia*
Stove has chosen to eschew scholarly detachment in treating his
subject’s life, and the reward in engagement and sheer wit is
considerable, while the extensive annotations reveal just how
carefully and thoroughly the author has done his research.
*Organ Australia*
It is the first study of the composer in English for some time, and
even an audience already familiar with the subject will welcome its
extensive quotation from contemporary sources.
*Choir & Organ*
Stove has delivered scrupulous scholarship, correcting errors of
earlier writers and providing a full scholarly scaffolding of
bibliography and endnotes.
*classical.net*
“This is an admirably thorough and detailed exploration not only of
Franck himself, but also of his historical environment and varied
connections, done with obvious sympathy and admiration but without
failing to present all sides in the critical spectrum”
“We get a wide range of opinion about the man and his music and a
feeling that the author knows intimately the music he describes
care and detail. And we have confidence that he has gone the extra
mile to correct little discrepancies and inaccuracies that have
been perpetuated in Franck scholarship to date”
“It is fascinating reading, and the author has no hesitation in
pursuing amusing side stories or interesting political historical
settings. Don’t miss the notes which are often very funny”
“The book is full of engaging and charming turns of phrase and wry
observations.”
This is a very rich book, full of surprises and interest and
written in a very appealing and lively way. It should reignite
interest in works other than the few standard ones and round out
our ideas of Franck’s legacy. I strongly recommend it.”
*Annals Australasia*
Overall I found this a diverting read and appreciated a writer
whose turn of phrase and command of English prose never fail to
delight, itself an all-too-rare event these days.
*Organz News*
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