César Franck (1822–1890) is now regarded as one of the most important French composers and organists of his time. “Les Béatitudes”, his monumental oratorio setting the text from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5,3ff.), is regarded as his most important work and is on an equal footing with the great oratorios of the 19th century. But Franck himself did not live to hear the extremely successful first performance in summer 1891.

Through its symmetrical dramatic structure, the work conveys t...