Cesar Franck -- Symphony in D Minor -- Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch.
The D Minor, however, is unique. There is no other quite like it in form, in the organ-like texture of the instrumentation, or in its overall character, which may aptly be called a species of religious meditation in music. “” cyrus durgin, concert notes for the recording
complete honesty: this symphony was little more than anticipation, an anteroom, an appetizer, foreplay to the upcoming week of Peter Grimes. which is unfortunate because the symphony in d minor is in its own right a memorable experience. there will time for it again come april.
Franck’s music is not of unrelieved serenity, for that would have resulted in monotony; but it reflected his character—patient, reverent, kind and modest—in a sort of contemplative rapture, and its points of climax were neither passionate nor dramatic, but peaks of exaltation. “” cyrus durgin, concert notes for the recording
but no yes, Peter Grimes: