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César Franck was a Belgian-born French composer, organist, and music teacher of the Romantic era. He is renowned for his rich harmonic language, cyclic forms, and significant contributions to French instrumental music, particularly the symphony, chamber music, and organ repertoire. Born in Liège, Franck showed early talent and studied at the Liège and Paris Conservatoires. He made his career primarily in Paris as an organist (notably at Sainte-Clotilde) and professor at the Paris Conservatoire. Despite initial struggles for recognition, his mature works, composed relatively late in life, established him as a pivotal figure in French music, influencing generations of composers.

• Franck's father, Nicolas-Joseph, aggressively managed his sons' early careers as child prodigies, withdrawing César from the Paris Conservatoire prematurely to tour. This strained their relationship, and Franck eventually broke away to pursue his own musical path in Paris.
• His marriage to actress Félicité Saillot Desmousseaux in 1848 caused significant family conflict, leading to a near-total estrangement from his parents who disapproved.
• Franck achieved significant recognition only in the last decade of his life. His Symphony in D minor (1888) was initially met with hostility and confusion by many critics and musicians at the Paris Conservatoire.
• He died from complications (pleurisy and pericarditis) following injuries sustained in a traffic accident when he was hit by an omnibus (horse-drawn bus) while crossing the street in Paris.