After a series of political struggles and revolutions in the end of 19th century, France’s financial status had recovered, which also led to the rebound of the originally declined music popularity among the middle class. The popular music genre then included Grand Opéra and the virtuoso works. In this competitive era, César Franck (1822-1890) chose the path that was seldom taken. In his life time, he had experienced a lot of obstacles; however, he didn’t give up but devoted himself to the service in church. He stayed humble and persevered in studying the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven. It was not until 1875 that he was inspired by Wilhelm Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde(1859), the style of Chromaticism. Since then, he had achieved the peak of his composing career in the very old age. With the help from his students, his works became well-known around the world. Besides, he became the minster of French Music Association (Société Nationale de Musique). Arguably, he was a late- bloomer, professional musician, organist and educator.

This research aims to analyze the late work of César Franck: Prelude, Chorale et Fugue. Taking up the traditions and opening up new possibilities, this work adopted not only the traditional genres, but also Chromaticism, Cyclic Form and so on. It was very unique in France during the 19th century and paved the new way for French music. This thesis is divided into five parts: the introduction, the background of César Franck, the analysis of Prelude, Chorale et Fugue, the interpretation of Prelude, Chorale et Fugue and the conclusion. By doing the literature review, I hope I can perform the work more precisely and also learn the value of perseverance and humbleness from César Franck.