César Franck

Le Chasseur maudit

            Franck, along with Saint-Saëns, must be considered the most important French musician in the second half of the nineteenth century.  In this country concert halls have long been dominated by the hegemony of German-speaking composers, for a number of reasons.   Berlioz, of course, is well known, but after that, a few compositions by Franck, Saint-Saëns, and others, such as d’Indy, constitute the common French symphonic repertoire in this country before the advent of the towering Debussy and Ravel.  Franck was born in what is today’s Belgium, but later became a French citizen and spent most of his life in Paris, where he was a revered organist and teacher.  He was perhaps the most important organist and composer for that instrument after J. S.

Symphony in D Minor

            Franck, along with Saint-Saëns, must be considered the most important French musician in the second half of the nineteenth century.  In this country concert halls have long been dominated by the hegemony of German-speaking composers, for a number of reasons.   Berlioz, of course, is well known, but after that, a few compositions by Franck, Saint-Saëns, and others, such as d’Indy, constitute the common French symphonic repertoire in this country before the advent of the towering Debussy and Ravel.  Franck was born in what is today’s Belgium, but later became a French citizen and spent most of his life in Paris, where he was a revered organist and teacher.  He was perhaps the most important organist and composer for that instrument after J. S.