César Franck was, like Saint-Saëns, a child prodigy. His father, Leopold Mozart-like, dragged César and his also gifted brother Joseph, to Paris – they were born in Liège – to get them trained up to make the family fortune, a plan doomed to failure and which led to a lifetime of friction between father and son.
Franck – in spite, rather than because of, his father – did eventually fulfil his early promise, becoming a famed improviser on the organ (his main instrument), a much sought-after teacher and a distinguished composer.
Unlike his contemporaries, who dealt mainly in operas and orchestral music, he turned some of his focus on chamber music, writing a justly famous violin sonata, a piano quintet and a string quartet, all three of which made a significant impression on subsequent generations of French composers. It’s that chamber music aspect of his output that’s explored below:
Violin Sonata in A
1. Allegretto ben moderato 0:33
2. Allegro 6:56
3. Ben moderato: Recitativo-Fantasia 15:19
4. Allegretto poco mosso 22:45
Piano Quintet in f
0:00 Molto moderato quasi lento
15:32 Lento con molto sentimento
26:14 Allegro non troppo ma non fuoco
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The Art of Listening 