César Franck

In 1859, César Franck was appointed organist of the Ste. Clotilde and on 19 December of the same year he inaugurated his beautiful Cavaillé-Coll instrument. Shortly before that, his predecessor Alexandre-François Boëly, from Johann Sebastian Bach's school, had died. The popular organists of those days, like Marius Gueit, Miné, Lefébure-Wely, Renaud de Vilbac and Edouard Batiste only aimed to please the public at large by creating works which were easy on the ear. Saint-Saëns, however, switched at the age of twenty-three from the organ of St. Merry's to that of the Madeleine with the intention to follow in Boëly's footsteps. At that time, Franck's collection of six organ works, which appeared in 1862, formed a real monument for the revival of the organ art in France.
It is impossible to precisely define the expressive value of Franck's works. In his music he wants to pour out the expressions of his soul, noble and sincere, reflecting the sensibility of a sound and strong mind.