This brief but interesting biography of the composer is divided into four sections: Franck's life; his education and aesthetic ideas; technique; and the works. In addition, there is a list of the specifications of the organ of St. Clothilde (when Franck was organist there), as well as a short bibliography and discography, neither of which is meant to be definitive. For his information, the author draws upon the work of D’Indy, Charles Tournemire, and Maurice Emmanuel. Some of the author's most interesting ideas are found in the discussion of Franck's aesthetic ideas, challenging the strongly held notion (at least at the time) that Franck was a “religious” composer. What was lacking in the composer's education, according to the author, was the study of the classical Netherlands and Burgundian schools of Josquin and Lassus. Also missing from Franck's general education was an appreciation for fine literature. The author posits that “literary beauty per se probably never moved him,” rather it was the “sentiment in the verses which inspired him.” He even further suggests that Franck was unable to distinguish the “deeper, intrinsic musical quality of verse.” Franck's organ music demonstrates, according to Andiressen, a “fascinating interplay between the performer and the thinker.” Among the techniques which Franck favored, the author points to the use of modal tetrachords and modal flavoring in purely tonal works. This, as well as his highly chromatic harmonies, gives a stamp of originality to his music – both keyboard and orchestral. The author also points to the “organic growth” of Franck's music and his atypical “process of orchestral thinking,” which was more in keeping with the piano and organ, thanks in no small part to the romantic, orchestral colored organs of his day. In the final section of this study, the author examines several of Franck's organ works: the Trois pièces, the Six pièces d’orgue, the Trois chorales, the Variations symphoniques pour piano et orchestre, the famous Sonata for Violin, and finally the String Quartet in D major. The author's analyses are often superficial (being too brief to be profound or extensive), but they demonstrate a fine understanding of the works in question and offer a good appreciation for Franck's music on the whole.