Franck in Melbourne

César Franck was a Belgian-born French Romantic composer, organist and pianist, born in Liège in 1822. His best-known works include the Symphony in D minor, the Violin Sonata in A major, the Symphonic Variations, Panis angelicus and a substantial body of organ music. In 1858, Franck became organist at the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde, where he played the church’s Cavaillé-Coll instrument for the rest of his life. Eugène Ysaÿe and Léontine Bordes-Pène gave the first public performance of the Violin Sonata in Brussels in 1886, and the Symphony in D minor received its premiere in 1889 at the Paris Conservatoire.