Toccata (Symphonie No. 4, Op. 13)

Published in 1872, these Symphonies are dedicated to Cavaillé-Coll in the 1879 edition.

The fourth symphonie contains six movements: Toccata, Fugue, Andante sostenuto, Scherzo, Adagio, and Finale.
I played these three pieces, as a sort of "suite," on what would turn out to be my LAST recital on the 1909 Wirsching.

The "Toccata" is a massive work, full of ceremony and dotted rhythms, clearly written in the "French overture-style."

The "Andante cantabile," sort of like a Mendelssohn "song without words," was played at Widor's funeral, but was absent from the first edition, being added as late as the 1887 edition.

The "Finale" is a sort of sonata-rondo on a 3/4 time quasi-martial refrain, somewhat in the style of Schumann. The F amjor tonality moves to D minor in the "tripleted" middle section, where there the unexpected tonal realms of B-flat and D-flat make their appearance. When F amjor is finally reached, the theme is thundered home on the full organ.