As soon as he reached 25 (so no longer needing parental permission), he married a former student, two years his junior, the daughter of a theatrical family. Father and son were soon not on speaking terms, and Cesar made a hasty return to Paris, picking up part-time teaching jobs. Franck père was impatient, though, and when the boy’s credentialing was not absolute (he won first prize for piano but not everything else), they returned to Belgium to try and launch Cesar’s solo career.

1Ĭesar Franck was born in the French-speaking part of Belgium. The young Franck exhibited great talent in early studies at the Liege Conservatory, so his father, a clerk, moved the family to Paris to enable his piano, organ and composition studies at the Paris Conservatoire.