Allegro risoluto (Symphonie II)

So, after a year of Franck in 2025, where to next? Perhaps a pupil of the Pater Seraphicus?

I remember my first encounter with this movement as a student and I was not convinced - I fear that the performance was to blame and I was not enamoured by the jerky and ungainly nature of the movement. I then heard it in a masterclass and, again, was left not wanting more.
I am not sure what the turning point was, but my inspirational teacher suggested that I learn the whole symphonie (you just did what you were told) and there began my long journey with this work. I am hoping that, if this is your first time, you do not feel how I did after my first audition of the piece - fingers crossed! If you like it, I hope you will be pleased top hear that there are another four movements to come over 2026.

Here are some helpful notes from my friend Mr AI:
Written in 1902 and published shortly after, Louis Vierne’s Second Symphony for Organ is a masterpiece of the French Romantic repertoire, dedicated to the renowned organ builder Charles Mutin. Composed while Vierne was titular organist at Notre-Dame de Paris, this symphony, and specifically its opening movement, reflects a mature, deeply dramatic, and cyclical approach to the organ symphony genre. 


The opening Allegro risoluto is a powerful, dark, and turbulent movement written in sonata form. It sets the thematic foundation for the entire five-movement work. 
The movement features a bold, rhythmic, and marcato first theme, which immediately establishes a sense of brooding disquiet. This is sharply contrasted by a more lyrical, hymn-like second subject.
True to Vierne’s style, this movement serves as the source for germinal musical ideas that reappear in later movements, particularly the Final.