The four works on this recording were written between 1843 and 1844 and chart the young César Franck’s concert tours when he appeared as a pianist and composer. Though written in his early twenties, they embody many of the characteristics that imbue the piano works written in his mature creative period from 1873: great colour, spiritual depth, organ imitation, wide dynamic ranges and powerful chordal writing. The Schubert transcriptions reveal Franck’s love of the composer’s songs, the Ballade, Op 9, already shows his commanding sense of development, while Souvenirs of Aix-la-Chapelle, Op 7, is deeply personal and spiritual, prophetic of the works to come.