César Franck - Prélude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18 (1862)

César Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life.

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Prelude, Fugue et Variation in B minor, Op. 18 for Organ (1859-62)
Transcribed for piano solo by Harold Bauer
Dedication: à son ami monsieur Camille Saint-Saëns

Pianist unknown

Description by Meredith Gailey [-]
César Franck's Prélude, fugue et variations has become a popular work among organists and is familiar to music lovers even though they may not know its title or composer. Written in 1862, it is a part of the larger Six Pièces pour le Grand Orgue. After having worked as organist at the parish of Saint-Jean-Saint-François for seven years, Franck obtained the same appointment at Sainte-Clotilde, where he had been choirmaster for some time. It was at the latter church that he received his inspiration for Prélude. At his new post, he met with a monumental artistic challenge when the inventor-builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll finished construction on a three-manual grand organ for the church in 1859. For the dedication of this instrument on December 19 of the same year, Franck played his Final in B Flat Major, Op. 21. His attachment to this particular organ was so great that it inspired him to immediately compose Six Pièces pour le Grand Orgue (1860-1862), which he followed with Trois Pièces pour le Grand Orgue (1878) and Trois Chorals (1890). These works were written at the height of the Romantic organ's popularity, which stretched between 1830 and 1930. This period's most popular organists were Charles-Marie Widor, Alexandre Pierre François Boëly, Louis Lefébure-Wély and of course, Franck, who in time became known as the only true "equal" of Johann Sebastian Bach as a composer for the organ. The Prélude was dedicated to Camille Saint-Saëns. The two men had similar posts and influences, and had both studied with François Benoist at the Paris Conservatoire.