The Belgian-born César Franck was organist of St. Clotilde in Paris for over 30 years and from 1872 onward professor of organ at the Conservatoire. His works for the instrument form a much more important and distinctive contribution to its repertoire than their number might suggest. Liszt remarked of his Six Pieces, “These poetic works have a clearly marked place alongside the masterpieces of Bach.”  

Franck stands as a cornerstone of the French organ tradition, leading an intrepid group of younger composers in Paris at a time when the imposing heights of Wagner’s chromaticism influenced French music, as much as did a rediscovery of earlier French traditions of music. His students gave him the nickname “Pater seraphicus” (seraphic father).  

The Choral No. 1 in E major invites a patient observer to discern and discover relationships between motives in a form that is basically a theme followed by three variations. Franck presents the theme almost exactly in five-part harmony, all basically written within the vocal ranges of a choir. These opening 15 bars in E major are then repeated and embellished in G major, followed by a registration change for a soft 18-bar chorale melody, which is the most recognizable recurring melody of the entire piece. —Excerpted from a note by Gillian Weir and notes from the LA Phil archives