In 1886, when he composed his Violin Sonata, César Franck (1822-1890) was 64 years old and still a fairly obscure figure in the French musical world: a church organist and professor of organ at the Paris Conservatory with not much of a reputation as a composer except among a small inner circle of younger composers.
Franck dedicated this Sonata as a wedding present to Eugène Ysaÿe, a young Belgian who was in the process of establishing himself as one of the premier violinists in the world. Ysaÿe played the Sonata frequently over the next 40 or so years, and his championing of the work contributed greatly to the stature Franck achieved only after his death in 1890.
Here are Khatia Buniatishvili and Maxim Vengerov to show you the great passion in this music:
