César-Auguste Franck

Synopsis

French composer, teacher and organist of Belgian heritage

• 1822 born in Liége, Belgium
• 1830 began studying at the Liege Conservatory, where he won first prize in solfege in 1832 and in piano in 1834.
• 1833-1835 he studied harmony with the director of the Conservatory, Daussoigne
• 1835 his father organized a series of concerts in Liège, Brussels and Aachen. Franck's early compositions from this period are trivial and immature, perhaps due to the fact that he was exploited as a prodigy during his youth.
• 1835 May 1835 the Franck family moved to Paris. According to Oxford music online, "An assault on the Parisian audiences was by then almost a pre-ordained step, and fortunately the plan of campaign included piano lessons with Zimmerman and a course in harmony and counterpoint with the renowned Reicha, teacher of Berlioz, Liszt and Gounod"
• 1837 Franck began studies at the Paris Conservatory, where he won the prize for piano in 1838 and for counterpoint in 1840.
• 1840-1842 studied organ with Benoist, where he won only a second prize.
• 1843 withdrawn by his father to go on concert tour in Belgium.
• 1843 successfully published his Trios, opus 1, which were purchased by Meyerbeer, Liszt, Donizetti, Halévy, Chopin, Thomas and Auber. Liszt gave him some compositional advice.
• 1844-1846 his health and his concert career gradually declined, and in 1846 Franck quitted his parent's house to live on his own. He supported himself by teaching private pupils and at various schools and religious institutions.
• 1847 took his first post as organist at Notre Dame de Lorette.
• 1848 married Félicité Saillot Desmousseaux, against his father's wishes
• 1851 appointed organist of St Jean-St François in the Marais, which possessed an early organ by the brilliant builder Cavaillé-Coll, to whose firm Franck was then attached as an ‘artistic representative’.
• 1858 appointed organist of the newly completed basilica of Ste Clotilde.
• 1859 he inaugurated one of Cavaillé-Coll’s finest instruments on 19 December 1859. This was the beginning of his mature career. His first major work, the Six pièces, completed over the following two years. However, he did not compose other mature works for yet another 10 years.
• 1859-1869 taught the cluster of pupil-disciples known as "the bande à Franck:" including Henri Duparc, Arthur Coquard, Albert Cahen, Vincent d’Indyand, Alexis de Castillon.
• 1869 Franck entered "upon a creative phase of tremendous intensity which lasted unabated until his death."
• 1871 the end of Franck’s obscurity was signalled by his nomination to succeed Benoist as professor of organ at the Paris Conservatoire. This was also the year his father died.
• 1890 died in Paris. Among those present at his funeral were Fauré, Bruneau, Widor, Lalo and, delivering the oration, Chabrier.

For details, see the César Franck article on Wikipedia.

List of Organ Works

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Opus	Title	Year
Op. 16-21	Six pieces pour grande orgue	1856-1864
Op. 35-37	Trois Pieces	1878
Op. ??	Trois Chorals	1890
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Background and General Perspectives on Performing Franck Organ Works

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Registration and Organs

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See the footnote in the "Notes" section at the bottom of the page

Fingering and Pedaling

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Articulation and Phrasing

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Ornamentation

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Tempo and Meter

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Scores and Editions

Opus 18, Prelude, Fugue, and Variation (imslp):http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/f/fe/IMSLP03803-PreludeFetVariaFranck.pdf

Trois Chorals on imslp: http://imslp.org/wiki/3_Chorals_for_Organ_(Franck,_C%C3%A9sar)

Recordings

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Free Online

Choral #3 in A minor, played by M. C. Alain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN7YosqJDH8

Opus 18, Prelude, Fugue, and Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEkDhNrn6C8

Complete Masterworks for Organ, performed by Michael Murray on the organ at Saint Sernin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COBgiU2SptY

Organ Choral in B minor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6cwp4nkjRA

Pay to Listen

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Other Resources

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Notes

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