cyclic form

Franck's structural principle of recalling earlier themes in later movements, creating an organic unity across an entire work. A defining feature of virtually all his mature compositions.

In the Prélude, Choral et Fugue, the return of the Choral theme within the Fugue is not an interpolation but the architectural climax. Prepare this moment by playing the Fugue subject with full awareness that it will eventually merge with the Choral. The cyclic return should feel inevitable — the listener should sense it was always coming, even on first hearing.