His stage works were uniformly unsuccessful, though his choral compositions fared somewhat better. Born in Liege (in the French region which in 1830 became part of a new state, Belgium), on December 10, 1822, he led a group of young composers, among them d'Indy, Duparc, and Dukas, who found much to admire in his highly individual post-Romantic style, with its rich, innovative harmonies, sometimes terse melodies, and skilled contrapuntal writing. This group, sometimes known as "la bande a Franck," steered French composition toward symphonic and chamber music, finally breaking the stranglehold of the more conservative opera over French music.