César Franck
(Born; Liège, 10 Dec 1822; Died; Paris, 8 Nov 1890). French
composer, teacher and organist of Belgian birth. Intended by his ambitious father for a
career as a piano virtuoso, he studied at the Liège (1830-35) and Paris (1837-42)
conservatories but found his true vocation only later through organist's appointments in
Paris, chiefly that of Ste Clotilde (from 1858) and part-time teaching. His improvisatory
skill attracted notice and led to his first major work, the remarkable Six pièces
(1862), though another decade passed before he was appointed organ professor at the
Conservatoire. From the mid-1870s until his death his creative powers lasted unabated. He
wrote large-scale sacred works, notably the oratorio Les béatitudes (1879), and
several symphonic poems such as Le chausseur maudit (1882) and Psyché
(1888). But his achievements are evident especially in the symphonic, chamber and keyboard
works in which he made one of the most distinguished contributions to the field by any
French musician. Here, in the Piano Quintet (1879), the Prélude, choral et fugue
for piano (1884), the Violin Sonata (1886), the Symphony in D minor (1888) and the String
Quartet (1889), his inherent emotionalism and a preoccupation with counterpoint and
traditional forms found a balance, in turn decisively impressing his band of disciples,
from Duparc, d'Indy and Chausson to Lekeu, Vierne, Dukas and Guilmant. Features of his
mature style, indebted alike to Beethoven, Liszt and Wagner, are his complex, mosaic-like
phrase structures, variants of one or two motifs; his rich chromaticism, often put to
structural use in the 'chord pair'; and his fondness for cyclic, tripartite forms.
Sacred music Ruth (1846); Rédemption
(1874); Les béatitudes (1879); Rébecca (188l); 3 cantatas; 2 masses; Circa; 25 sacred
pieces, incl. Panis angelicus (1872) Secular vocal music Hulda (1885, perf. 1894);
Ghiselle, unfinished (1890, perf. 1896); patriotic odes and hymns; songs
Orchestral music Sym., d (1888); Les
éolides, sym. poem(1876); Le chasseur maudit, sym. poem (1882); Les Djinns, sym. poem
(1884); Psyché, sym. poem (1888); Sym. Variations, with pf (1885)
Chamber and keyboard music Str Qnt (1878);
(Pf) Qnt (1879); Str Qt, D (1889); 5 pf trios (1834-42); Vn Sonata, A(1886); other vn
pieces; Six piEgrave;ces, org (1862); over 100 org and harmonium pieces; Prélude, choral
et fugue, pf (1884); Prélude, aria et final, pf (1887); pf fantaisies
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