List of compositions by César Franck

Most of César Franck's works seem to have been published during his lifetime, although only 21 works received a publisher's opus number. The mature published works were catalogued by Wilhelm Mohr in his Franck Werke Verzeichnis (FWV). He divided Franck's compositions into two main groups: instrumental works, M.1-48, and vocal works, M.49-91, arranging them by genre, and by composition date order within each genre.

César Franck photographed by Pierre Petit.

The CFF catalogue (see § External links) compiled by Joël-Marie Fauquet (published in 1999) details almost every known work by Franck, including many not listed by Mohr. In addition, many dates are listed in Fauquet's catalogue that are incorrect in Mohr's, or missing altogether.

Juvenile works

Franck wrote a number of juvenile works between 1834-7 to which he assigned an opus number; he later disowned all these early works, except for the Premiere Grande Fantaisie for piano Op.12 (1836), which he occasionally played in later life. These op. numbers are not to be confused with his mature published works, published with or without an opus number.

• Op.2 - Concerto No. 1, piano & orch., 1834?
• Op.3 - Grand Rondo, piano, 1834
• Op.4 - Variations brillantes un thème original, piano, 1834
• Op.5 - Variations brillantes sur un air du Pré aux Clercs (Hérold), piano, 1834
• Op.6 - Grand Trio for piano, violin & cello, 1834
• Op.8 - Variations brillantes sur la ronde favorite de Gustave III (by Auber), piano, 1834
• Op.9 - O salutaris, chorus & piano, 1835
• Op.10 - Premiere grande Sonate, piano, 1834/5
• Op.11 - Deuxieme grand Concerto, piano & orch., 1836
• Op.12 - Premiere grande Fantaisie, piano, 1836 (only piece not to be disowned)
• Op.13 - Fantaisie (lost), piano, 1836
• Op.14 - Deuxieme grande Fantaisie, piano, 1836
• Op.15 - Two mélodies for piano, c.1837
• Op.18 - Deuxieme Sonata, piano, c.1837
• Op.19 - Troisieme grande Fantaisie for piano c.1837

Mature works

This is an incomplete, sortable list of César Franck's mature works. The general layout of the table is according to Mohr's classification of the published compositions listed in FWV by genre and date, along with a few unpublished/unfinished works to which Mohr did not assign an FWV number; the latter are included in date order within each FWV genre. The corresponding publisher's Opus number is also shown where appropriate.

In some recorded performances, programme notes, and printed sheet music, Mohr's classification of FWV numbers is sometimes misunderstood and confused with opus numbers: e.g. "Fantaisie in C Major, Opus 16" may be given where "FWV 16" is meant.

Contents

• Chamber, M.1-10
• Piano, M.11-23
• Organ, M.24-42
• Orchestra, M.43-48
• Operas, M.49-50
• Sacred works with orchestra, M.51-54
• Sacred works with organ, M.55-69
• Solo songs with piano, M.70-88
• Chorus songs with piano, M.89-91

FWV	Op.	Title	Genre	Composed	Published	Notes
1	1 /1	Piano Trio No.1 in F#-	Chamber	1839-42
2	1 /2	Piano Trio No.2 in Bb	Chamber	1839-42		"Trio de Salon"
3	1 /3	Piano Trio No.3 in B-	Chamber	1839-42
4	2	Piano Trio No.4 in B-	Chamber	1842
5	6	Andantino Quietoso in Eb, for violin & piano	Chamber	1843
	10	Solo de Piano on a theme from 'Ruth', for piano & string quartet	Chamber	1843		unfinished
6	14	Duo Concertant in Bb, for violin and piano	Chamber	1844
7		Piano Quintet in F minor	Chamber	1878-79
8		Violin Sonata in A major	Chamber	1886	1886
9		String Quartet in D	Chamber	1889	1889
10		Mélancolie, for violin & piano	Chamber	1889 ?	1911
11	3	Églogue	Piano	1842	1844
12	4	Duo for piano No.1, on 'God Save the King', for piano 4-hands	Piano	1842	1845 c.
13	5	Grand Caprice No.1	Piano	1843	1845 c.
14	7	Souvenir d'Aix-la-Chapelle	Piano	1843	1845 c.
15	8	Four songs by Franz Schubert, arr. for piano solo	Piano	1844
	9	Ballade	Piano	1844
16	11	Grande Fantaisie No. 1 on motifs from Gulistan by Nicolas Dalayrac	Piano	1844	1844	[1]
17	12	Grande Fantaisie No. 2 on motifs from Gulistan by Dalayrac	Piano	1844	1844
18	15	Fantaisie sur 2 airs polonaises	Piano	1845	1845
	16	Trois petits riens[nb 1]	Piano	1845
19	17	Duo for piano No.2, on the quartet from Lucile by Grétry, for piano 4-hands[nb 2]	Piano	1845-6	1846
20		Les plaintes d'une poupée	Piano	1865	1865 c.
21		Prélude, Choral et Fugue	Piano	1884	1892 c.	Sometimes wrongly numbered 'Op. 21' instead of M. 21
22		Danse Lente	Piano	1885 ?	1886	publ. in "Album du Gaulois"
23		Prélude, Aria et Final	Piano	1886-7	1902	Sometimes wrongly numbered 'Op. 23' instead of M. 23
24		L'Organiste Vol.2,	Organ	1858-63	1900	Consists of 30 early pieces, collected and published posthumously after the later pieces in L'Organiste, Vol. 1 (1896)
25		Andantino in G-	Organ	1857	1889
26	23	5 Pieces for harmonium	Organ	1863	1865?	[2]
27		Trois Antiennes	Organ	1859	1859
28	16	6 Pieces pour Grande Orgue, Op. 16-21, M.28-33 Fantasy in C	Organ	1859-62
29	17	Grande Pièce Symphonique in F# minor	Organ	1859-62
30	18	Prélude, Fugue et Variation in B minor	Organ	1859-62		Also arr. for 2 pianos; for piano & harmonium; and for solo piano by Harold Bauer and Ignaz Friedman
31	19	Pastorale in E	Organ	1859-62
32	20	Prière in C# minor	Organ	1859-62
33	21	Final	Organ	1859-62
34	22	Quasi Marcia, for harmonium	Organ	1862	1870 ?
35		3 Pieces for Organ, M.35-37 Fantaisie in A major	Organ	1878	1884
36		Cantabile in B major	Organ	1878	1884
37		Piece héroique in B minor	Organ	1878	1884
38		3 Chorales for Organ, M.38-40 Chorale in E major	Organ	1890	1892
39		Chorale in B minor	Organ	1890	1892
40		Chorale in A minor	Organ	1890	1892
41		L'Organiste Vol.1	Organ	1889-90	1896	55 pieces published posthumously
42		44 pieces for harmonium	Organ	1858-63	1900
		Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne, symphonic poem	Orchestra	1846		Op. posth.
43		Les Éolides, symphonic poem	Orchestra	1875-76
44		Le Chasseur maudit (The Accursed Huntsman), symphonic poem	Orchestra	1881-82
45		Les Djinns, symphonic poem for piano and orchestra	Orchestra	1884
46		Symphonic Variations, for piano and orchestra	Orchestra	1885
47		Psyché, symphonic poem for chorus and orchestra	Orchestra	1886-87
48		Symphony in D minor	Orchestra	1887-88
		Stradella, unpub. opera in 3 acts	Opera	1841-2		Arranged by Luc van Hove from vocal score with indications for orchestration, perf. 2012-2013
		Le Valet de Ferme, unpub. opéra comique in 3 acts	Opera	1851-53
49		Hulda	Opera	1882–85
50		Ghiselle	Opera	1889
51		Ruth, for soloists, chorus & orch.	Sacred w/orch	1843-6		Revised 1871
		Les Sept Paroles du Christ sur la Croix	Sacred w/orch	1859		Unperformed during his lifetime, only discovered in 1955
52		Rédemption, symphonic poem for narrator, women's chorus, mixed chorus & orch.	Sacred w/orch	1872		Revised 1874. Text by Edouard Blau.[3]
53		Les Béatitudes, oratorio for soloists, chorus & orch.	Sacred w/orch	1869-79
54		Rébecca, cantata for soloists, chorus & orch.	Sacred w/orch	1880–81		Text by Paul Collin
55		O salutaris, for soprano, tenor or mezzo-soprano & organ	Sacred w/organ	1858
56		Three Motets, M.56-58 O salutaris, for soprano, chorus and organ	Sacred w/organ	1865
57		Ave Maria, hymn for soprano and bass soloists & organ	Sacred w/organ	1865
58		Tantum ergo, hymn for bass voice, mixed chorus & organ	Sacred w/organ	1865
59		Messe solennelle for bass and organ	Sacred w/organ	1858
60		Le garde d'honneur, sacred canticle for voice, female chorus, organ	Sacred w/organ
61a		Messe à trois voix for STB soloists, chorus and orchestra (or organ reduc.)	Sacred w/organ	1860
61b		Panis Angelicus for tenor, cello, harp, organ	Sacred w/organ	1861		Included in the 1872 edition, replacing the offertory O salutaris for bass
62		Ave Maria, for soprano, tenor, bass and organ	Sacred w/organ
63		3 Offertories, M.63-65 Quae est ista	Sacred w/organ
64		Domine Deus in simplicitate, for three voices with organ and double bass	Sacred w/organ	1861
65		Dextera Domini pour sop, tén, bas, choeur et orgue	Sacred w/organ	1861		Orchestrated in 1877
66		Domine non secundum, offertory for three voices and organ	Sacred w/organ
67		Quare fremuerunt gentes	Sacred w/organ	1865
68		Veni Creator, for two voices and organ	Sacred w/organ	1876
69		Cantique au Sacré-Coeur	Sacred w/organ	1880
70		"Souvenance", song for voice and piano	Solo song
71		"Ninon", song for voice and piano	Solo song
72		"L'émir de Bengador", song for voice and piano	Solo song
73		"Le sylphe", song for voice and piano	Solo song
74		"Robin Gray", song for voice and piano	Solo song
75		"L'ange et l'enfant", song for voice and piano	Solo song
76		"Aimer", song for voice and piano	Solo song
77		"Les trois exilés", song for voice and piano	Solo song
78		"S'il est un charmant gazon", song for voice and piano	Solo song
79		"Paris: Ode patriotique" for soprano or tenor and piano (or orch.)	Solo song	1870
80		"Le mariage des roses", song for voice and piano	Solo song
81		"Roses et papillons", song for voice and piano	Solo song
82		"Passez, passez toujours", song for voice and piano	Solo song
83		"Pour moi sa main cueillait des roses", song for voice and piano	Solo song
84		"Le Vase brisé", song for voice and piano	Solo song
85		"Nocturne", song for voice and piano	Solo song
86		? song for voice and piano	Solo song
87		"Les Cloches du soir", song for voice and piano	Solo song
88		"La Procession: Dieu s'avance à travers les champs!", for voice and piano (or orch.)	Solo song
89		Six duos for female chorus and piano	Chorus song
90		Premier sourire de Mai, for small 3-voice choir	Chorus song	1888
91		Hymne de Jean Racine, for 4-part male chorus and piano (or orch.)	Chorus song	1888

Other miscellaneous works

Probably included in other works in the table

• Andantino (1889), for harmonium
• Petit offertoire, for harmonium
• Entrée, for harmonium
• Piece in Eb, for organ or harmonium
• Offertoire in A, for harmonium
• Offertoire sur un Noël bréton, CFF 34, for harmonium

References

Notes

1. The opus numbers given to Trois Petits Riens, Op. 16, (1845), and Grand Duo on 'Lucile' by Grétry, Op. 17, M.19, (1845-6) were later assigned by a different publisher to Six Pieces for Organ Opp. 16-21, M.28-33.
2. See note 1

Citations

1. The MS of Gulistan is in the Württembergischen Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart. Krekler, Ingeborg et al.,(2000). Die Handschriften der Württembergischen Landesbibliothek Stuttgart. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 9783447042413
2. 5 Pièces pour harmonium (Franck, César). IMSLP. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
3. Libretto at Gallica.bnf.fr Retrieved 12 January 2016.

External links

• List of works by César Franck at IMSLP, including CFF catalogue numbers.