Fantaisie in C majeur

The Fantaisie in C Op. 16 was composed from 1854 -1863 and was published in 1868. It was dedicated to “son ami Monsieur Alexis Chauvet”. It is the first of the Six Pièces and stands as the last of three versions of the work made by Franck over a ten-year period. He played this Fantaisie during the last week of August 1856 when he demonstrated an organ built for the Cathedral of Saint-Michel in Carcassonne. This organ had two swell boxes (Grand-Récit and Petit-Récit). The second version dated October 1863 and may have been the Andante whose “rich sonority was admired” as Franck played at the inauguration of the organ at Saint-Sulpice in April 1862 (this version is played here). A third version exists with a new Allegretto non troppo, which was shorter than the published one. It may have been used by Franck to be played at the inauguration of the organ of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-Paris on March 6, 1868.
Alexis Chauvet was a fervent defender of the polyphonic tradition and a neo-classic organist. His nickname was “le petit père Bach” since he played Bach more than other Parisian organists. He was organist in a.o. La Trinité and played together with Franck at various inaugural organ recitals, a.o. at Notre Dame (1868) and La Trinité (1869).
See: Playing the Organ Works of César Franck, by Rollin Smith page 61.