Like many great composers before him, César Franck earned his living more as a virtuoso performer than as a composer. Most of his works were widely recognized after his death Towards the end of his career César Franck realized that French music had little great work to present for piano and orchestra, and decided to contribute to the change of scenery. In 1884 he experimented using piano and orchestra in his symphonic poem "Les Djinns" (a symphonic poem is a work for an orchestra based on a theme that is not musical). Finally its goal was achieved in 1885 with the synthesis of the Symphonic Variations - a work of timeless quality. Franck's original idea was aimed at a concert-form project, in which, however, the piano would share the musical theme just as much as the orchestra. In his early thoughts he envisioned a form based on Beethoven 's great works, as well as great composers of the Baroque era. What he eventually composed, however, is more reminiscent of imagin...
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