Franck, C�sar Auguste 1822-90
French composer

Born in Li�ge, Belgium, of German parents, he studied at the Li�ge Conservatory, and later in Paris, where he acquired French nationality. His early compositions were considered rather bizarre in France, but were given a better reception in Germany, where they were sponsored by Franz Liszt. In 1848 he settled in Paris as a teacher and organist, composing in his spare time, and in 1872 he was made organ professor at the Conservatory. Much of his considerable output was undistinguished, and his reputation rests on a few great works all written after the age of 50, the best known being his String Quartet (composed in the year of his death), his Symphony in D minor (1886-88), his Violin Sonata (1886), his Variations symphoniques for piano and orchestra (1885), and his tone poem Le Chasseur maudit (1881-82, 'The Accursed Hunter'). Some of his organ music is also performed.

Bibliography: Vincent d'Indy, C�sar Franck (1906)