Bruckner and Franck

[John Curtin]

I'm probably fishing around in the dark here, but I've been listening quite a bit to these two composers recently, and I've been quite struck by how similar they seem to be in a harmonic sense. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something about the chord changes they use that indicates some kind of kinship.

I know they were both highly proficient organists, and I'm starting to suspect it might have something to do with the way organists think (because, you know, if you see two cows with four legs then it naturally means all four-legged animals are cows!). Now, I know quite a few organists frequent this forum, and I'm interested in what you have to say about this! Do you find yourself particularly drawn to delicious harmonic structures? Because I can't get enough!

 

[Gustav]

which works are you comparing them with? I don't know much about Franck, all i ever heard from him is his symphony, and it didn't struck me as anything close to "Brucknerian". Bruckner, on the other hand, did like to do "chord changes", but that was nothing special. Alot of the composers in the late romantic era liked modulation. Take for example, Carl Fuchs, his 1st symphony is full of key changes.