Cesar Franck Symposium

Liège University (Belgium), 15–17 May 2022

Call for Papers

Deadline for proposals: 15 November 2021

In November 1990, the Université de Liège organized a symposium titled « César Franck et son temps » on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of Franck’s death. Thirty-two years later, another commemoration, that of the bicentennial of his birth, will offer an opportunity to look back once more at the life, work, and posterity of the composer known to his students as pater seraphicus. Over the past three decades, scholarly studies of Franck have multiplied, his discography has taken on considerable proportions, and new editions of some of his major works have been published. Yet the subject is far from exhausted: the discovery of archives; the vast reach of the contemporary and posthumous networks of a composer whom Charles Bordes humorously said “had been trained by his students”; new attention to little-known or neglected works; and, fundamentally, the evolution of musicology and the performer’s increasing involvement in research enable us to reexamine certain aspects of his oeuvre and even open new avenues.

The symposium is open to music researchers and practitioners exploring the following topics (non exhaustive list):

The improviser-composer ;

César Franck’s oeuvre: critical reception and legacy ;

Historiographic renewal: deconstructing the pater seraphicus? ;

Performing César Franck ;

Editing César Franck ;

Recording César Franck.

The papers may be presented individually (20 minutes, followed by discussion with the audience) or in the context of roundtable workshops on a specific topic, problem, or line of inquiry (3 papers of 15 minutes, followed by audience discussion).

Proposals for papers or roundtables (not to exceed 2,000 characters) must be sent no later than 15 November 2021 to colloquecesarfranck@uliege.be, along with a brief CV introducing their author.

The papers may be given in French or in English. The acts of the symposium will be published in the « Revue belge de musicologie–Belgisch tijdschrift voor muziekwetenschap ».

Conference Organizers:

Émilie Corswarem (FNRS – Université de Liège) ;

Christophe Pirenne (Université de Liège – Université de Louvain-la-Neuve).

Advisory Board:

Rémy Campos (Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris);

Joël-Marie Fauquet (CNRS); Arnold Jacobshagen (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz, Köln);

Rainer Kleinertz (Universität des Saarlandes);

Henri Vanhulst (Université libre de Bruxelles – Académie royale de Belgique); Philippe Vendrix (CNRS – Université de Tours – Université de Liège);

Joris Verdin (University College Antwerp – KULeuven).

This event will be held in the context of festivities organized around the bicentennial of the birth of César Franck in Liège.

For further information, please contact Emilie Corswarem or Christophe Pirenne - Research Unit of Musicology | Liège University, Quai Roosevelt, 1b – Bât A4, 4000 Liège (Belgium). colloquecesarfranck@uliege.be