Camille Saint-Saëns

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Camille Saint-Saëns

Camille Saint-Saëns (full name Charles Camille Saint-Saëns [ ʃaʁl kamij sɛ̃sɑ̃ (s) ] * October 9, 1835 in Paris , † December 16, 1921 in Algiers ) was a French pianist , conductor , organist , musicologist , music teacher and Composer of romance . He was best known for his "great zoological fantasy " Carnival of the Animals and the opera Samson et Dalila .

The signature of Saint-Saëns

Life

training

Monument in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria
Music Mile (Walk of Fame) Vienna

Camille Saint-Saëns' musical talent was encouraged from an early age by his mother and great-aunt. At the age of three he learned to read, at the age of six he wrote his first compositions, and when he was eleven he gave his first public concert in 1846 in the Salle Pleyel in Paris . Some contemporaries treated him as the new Mozart . At 16 he was already a student at the University of Paris, at 15 he had already composed the symphony in A major .

At the Paris Conservatory he studied piano with Camille Stamaty , organ with François Benoist and composition with Jacques Fromental Halévy . In 1852 he became organist at Saint-Séverin in Paris. In that year he got to know Franz Liszt , who should also have a lasting influence on him musically.

Early work

Saint-Saëns made his musical debut as a composer in 1853 when his first symphony was performed, and in 1857 with his second , which received critical acclaim.

In 1854 he moved to the Église Saint-Merri, in 1858 to the Madeleine Church , but gave up this position in 1877 to devote himself to composition. From 1861 to 1865 he taught piano at the École Niedermeyer de Paris , where Gabriel Fauré was one of his students.

In 1865 the opera Le Timbre d'Argent was written , which, like Étienne Marcel, was not very successful. In 1872 he composed the now almost unknown opera The Yellow Princess . The opera Samson et Dalila was written from 1868–1877 and premiered in Weimar in 1877 . The French premiere took place in Rouen in 1890, and the opera was first performed in Paris in 1892.

Saint-Saëns was much more successful than with his operas with his symphonic poems Le Rouet d'Omphale (1872), Phaéton (1873), Danse macabre (1875), in which he introduced the xylophone to symphonic music, and La Jeunesse d 'Hercule (1877). The Oratorio de Noël, Op. 12, completed in 1858, has also enjoyed great popularity in Germany for several years. In its lyrical, contemplative nature, which is underlined by the chamber music performance of the orchestra, the simple choral score and the use of the harp, it can hardly be compared with Johann Sebastian Bach's solemn Baroque Christmas Oratorio . Nevertheless, it is being performed more and more often as an alternative in Christmas church music.

After the Franco-Prussian War , he campaigned for national French music in 1871 and founded the Société Nationale de Musique together with César Franck . In the following years he went on numerous art trips and worked not only as a composer and pianist, but also through essays on musical topics.

Late work

Camille Saint-Saëns at the piano (1913 in Paris)

Having remained a bachelor for a long time, he married the 19-year-old industrial daughter Marie-Laure Truffot from Le Cateau-Cambrésis in 1875 at the age of 40 . The marriage was unhappy. Two sons died in 1878. Saint-Saëns left his wife in 1881 and moved back to live with his mother. In 1877 he received 100,000 francs from the patron Albert Libon, to whom he dedicated the Requiem in 1878 . In the 1880s he was considered the country's greatest musician, was elected to the Academy of Fine Arts in 1881 and an officer of the Legion of Honor in 1884, and in 1913 he received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. In the last years of his life he traveled a lot to North Africa and America, and at the age of 80 he made a successful tour of the USA. He fought against influences of German music on French and especially the cult around Richard Wagner and Arnold Schönberg . At the age of 86 he played in the Dieppe casino for the 75th stage anniversary as a pianist.

Even so, its fame faded in France, where it was considered old-fashioned. Although he had advocated a progressive French symphony, his music remained rather conservative. A major exception is his late work Le Carnaval des Animaux ( Carnival of the Animals ) from 1886, which stood out from contemporary music due to its descriptive character. In 1908 he composed a special score for the film The Assassination of the Duke of Guise for the first time .

His famous compositions also include Symphony No. 3 in C minor, the organ symphony , which received worldwide approval and which has Dies irae as its basic theme. The significant maestoso of the work inspired the duo Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley to the reggae adaptation If I Had Words , which became a chart success in 1978. Some of the piano concertos (especially the second , fourth and fifth ) are still among his better-known creations, his 1st Cello Concerto in A minor is considered a compulsory piece for every cello soloist.

His instrumentation is occasionally characterized by strange, almost experimental soundscapes. For example, he prescribes a piano part for four hands in the final movement of the above-mentioned organ symphony, and in his piano quintet he also demands the use of a double bass in the final movement.

He died on a trip to Algiers in 1921 and was transferred to Paris and buried there in the Montparnasse cemetery.

Overview of his works

Works for piano

Works for piano solo

  • 6 bagatelles op.3
  • Mazurka No. 1 in G minor, Op. 21
  • Gavotte op. 23 (1871)
  • Mazurka No. 2 in G minor, Op. 24
  • Allegro op.29
  • 6 Etudes op.52
  • Minuet and Waltz op.56
  • Une nuit à Lisbonne op. 63
  • Mazurka No. 3 in B flat minor, Op. 66
  • Allegro appassionato op.70
  • Album for piano op.72
  • Rhapsodie d'Auvergne , version for piano solo op.73
  • Souvenir d'Italie , Op. 80
  • Les cloches du soir op. 85
  • Valse canariote in A minor op.88
  • Africa, version for piano solo op.89
  • Suite in F major for piano op.90
  • Thème varié op.97 (1894)
  • Souvenir d'Ismaïlia op.100 (1895)
  • Valse mignonne op.104 (1896)
  • Valse nonchalante in B flat major op.110 (1898)
  • 6 Etudes op.111 (1899)
  • Valse langoureuse op.120 (1903)
  • Sur les bords du Nil, version for piano solo op.125
  • Valse gaie op.139 (1912)
  • Marche interaliée op. 155
  • 6 fugues op.161
  • Feuillet d'album op.169 (1921)

Works for piano left hand

  • 6 Etudes op.135

Works for piano four hands

  • Duettino op.11
  • Feuillet d'album op.81
  • Pas redoublé op. 86
  • Berceuse E-Durop. 105
  • Vers la victoire , Pas redoublé, version for piano four hands op.152 (1918)
  • Marche interalliée, version for piano four hands op.155

Works for two pianos

  • Marche héroïque op. 34
  • Beethoven Variations op.35
  • King Harald Harfagar op. 59
  • Minuet et Gavotte op.65
  • Polonaise for 2 pianos op.77
  • Scherzo for 2 pianos op.87
  • Caprice Arabe Op. 96
  • Caprice héroique Op. 106
  • Sur les bords du Nil , Op. 125

Works for piano and orchestra

Other works for piano and orchestra

  • Allegro appassionato op.70
  • Rhapsodie d'Auvergne op.73
  • Weddingcake , Caprice Valse in A flat major op.76 (string orchestra only)
  • Africa op.89

Works for organ

Works for organ solo

  • Rhapsodies on Breton melodies op.7
  • Bénédiction Nuptiale Op. 9
  • Elévation ou Communion op.13 (1859)
  • 3 preludes et Fugues op. 99
  • 1.Fantasy for organ in E flat major (without opus number)
  • 2. Fantasia for organ in D flat major op.101
  • Marche religieuse in F major op.107
  • Trois préludes et Fugues , Op. 109
  • 7 improvisations op.150 (1916–1917)
  • 3. Fantasia for organ in C major op.157 (1919)

Work for organ or harmonium

  • Neuf Pieces pour Orgue ou Harmonium (L'Organiste 1912)

Work for harmonium

  • 3 Morceaux pour Harmonium op.1 (1852)
    • 1. Meditation
    • 2. Barcarolle
    • 3. Prière

Work for harmonium and piano

  • 6 duos for harmonium and piano op.8

Works for violin

Violin sonatas

  • Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 75
  • Violin Sonata No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 102

Other works for violin and piano

  • Berceuse op.38 (1871)
  • Triptyque op.136
  • Élégie op. 143
  • Élégie op.160 (1919)

Violin concerts

  • Violin Concerto No. 1 in A major op.20 (1859)
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 in C major op.58 (1858)
  • Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61 (1880)

Other works for violin and orchestra

  • Introduction et Rondo capriccioso op. 28
  • Romance in C major op.48
  • Romance op.51 (1874)
  • Morceau de Concert , Op. 62
  • Havanaise op.83 (1887)
  • Sarabande No. 1 in E major, Op. 93
  • Caprice andalou op.122 (1904)

Works for violoncello

Works for cello and piano

  • Cello Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 33 (1872)
  • Allegro appassionato op.43 (1876)
  • Chant saphique op.91 (1887)
  • Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 123 (1905)
  • Souvenirs (1895)
  • The Swan (from Carnival of the Animals )

Works for cello and orchestra

  • Suite for cello and orchestra op.16 (1863)
  • Romance for cello (or horn) and orchestra op.36
  • Concerto for Violoncello No. 1 in A minor op.33 (1872)
  • Concerto for violoncello No. 2 in D minor, op.119

Works for other solo instruments

Works for flute and orchestra

  • Romance D flat major op.37
  • Odelette in D major op.162

Works for horn and piano

  • Romance for horn and piano op.67

Works for horn and orchestra

  • Romance in F major op.36
  • Morceau de Concert , Op. 94

Other works with soloists

  • Tarantelle for flute, clarinet and orchestra op.6 (orchestral version, 1879)
  • Fantaisie for harp in A minor op.95
  • Cavatine for tenor trombone and piano op.144
  • Morceau de concert for harp and orchestra in G major op.154 (1918)
  • Cyprès et Lauriers for organ and orchestra op.156 (1919)
  • Prière [prayer] for violoncello and organ op. 158 (1919)
  • Sonata for oboe and piano in D major op.166 (1921)
  • Sonata for clarinet and piano in E flat major op.167 (1921)
  • Sonata for bassoon and piano in G major op.168 (1921)

Songs

  • Mélodies persanes op. 26 song cycle with six songs
  • La coccinelle (text: Victor Hugo; dedicated to the tenor Victor Capoul )
  • La cendre rouge , Dix poèmes lyriques op.146 (text: Georges Docquois , 1914)
  • Hymne à la paix for high voice and piano op.60 (Text: JL Faure, 1919)

Cantatas

  • Les Noces de Prométhée op.19 , Secular Cantata
  • La lyre et la harpe op.57, cantata
  • La gloire de Corneille cantata for soloists, choir and orchestra op.126 (Text: Sébastien-Charles Leconte and Pierre Corneille, 1906)

Works for voice and orchestra

  • La fiancée du timbalier for mezzo-soprano and orchestra op.82 (text: Victor Hugo , 1887)
  • Pallas Athéné for soprano and orchestra op.97
  • Lola for soprano and orchestra op.116 (text: Stéphan Bordèse, 1900)
  • La nuit for soprano, female choir and orchestra op.114 (text: Georges Audigier, 1900)
  • Le feu céleste speaker, soprano, choir, orchestra and organ op.115 (Text: Paul-Armand Silvestre , 1900)

Choral works

  • Les soldats de Gédéon op.46 for two male choirs (Text: Louis Gallet, 1876)
  • L'art d'être grand-père, 2 Choeurs , Op 52
    • No. 1 Chanson de grand-père
    • No. 2 Chanson d'ancêtre
  • Deux chœurs op. 68
    • No. 1 Les marins de Kermor
    • No. 2 Les titans
  • Saltarelle for male choir op.74 (Text: Émile Deschamps , 1885)
  • Les guerriers for male choir op.84 (Text: Georges Audigier, 1888)
  • Chants d'automne for male choir op.113 (Text: S. Sicard, 1898)
  • À la France for male choir and mixed choir ad libitum op.121 (Text: Jules Combarieu; 1903)
  • Le matin for male choir a cappella op.129 (Text: Alphonse de Lamartine , 1908)
  • Aux aviateurs for male choir op.134 (Text: Jean Bonnerot , 1912)
  • Aux mineurs for male choir op.135 (Text: Jean Bonnerot, 1912)
  • Hymne au printemps for male choir op.138 (Text: Jean Bonnerot, 1912)
  • Deux chœurs op.141 (1913)
  • Hymne au travail for male choir op.142 (Text: Jean Bonnerot , 1914)
  • Trois chœurs op.151 (1917)
    • No. 1 Chansons des aiguilles (Text: Jean Bonnerot)
    • No. 2 Salut au chevalier (Text: Paul Fournier)
    • No. 3 Le sourire (Text: Jean Mirval)
  • Marche dédiée aux étudiants d'Alger for 2 pianos with choir ad libitum op.163

Other vocal works

  • Scène d'Horace op.10 for soprano (Camille), baritone (Horace) and piano (text: Pierre Corneille , 1860)
  • Romance du soir for soprano, alto, tenor and bass op.118 (Text: Jean-Louis Croze, 1902)
  • La gloire for tenor, baritone, mixed choir and piano op.131 (text: Lucien Augé de Lassus, 1911)
  • Le printemps for choir, two equal voices and piano op.165 (text: Jean de La Fontaine )
  • Aux conquérants de l'air for choir, two equal voices and piano op.164

Chamber music

String quartets

  • String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, Op. 112
  • String Quartet No. 2 op.153 (1918)

Piano trios, quartet, and quintet

  • Piano quintet op.14
  • Piano Trio No. 1 in F major, Op. 18
  • Piano quartet in B flat major op.41
  • Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 92
  • Piano quartet in E major

Other occupations

  • Tarantelle for flute, clarinet and piano op.6
  • Sérénade in E flat major for piano, organ, violin and viola (or cello) op.15
  • Romance for violin, piano and harmonium (or organ) op.27
  • Septet in E flat major for trumpet, two violins, viola, cello, bass and piano op.65
  • Caprice sur des airs danois et russes for flute, oboe, clarinet and piano op.79
  • Barcarolle for violin, violoncello, harmonium and piano op.108
  • Fantasy for violin and harp op.124
  • La Muse et le Poète for violin, violoncello and orchestra in E minor op.132 (1910)
  • La Muse et le Poète for violin, cello and piano in E minor op.132 (1910)
  • Sonata for clarinet and piano in E flat major op.167

Works for orchestra

Symphonies

Other orchestral works

  • Le Rouet d'Omphale [The spinning wheel of Omphale op]. 31 (1872)
  • Phaéton op.39 (1873)
  • Danse macabre op. 40 (1874)
  • Suite op.49
  • La Jeunesse d'Hercule [The Youth of Hercules] op. 50 (1877)
  • Suite algérienne op. 60
  • Une Nuit à Lisbonne op. 63
  • Iota aragonese op.64
  • Hymne à Victor Hugo , orchestra, organ and choir in D minor, op.69 (1884)
  • Wedding Cake op.76
  • Sarabande et rigaudon in E minor, Op. 93
  • Coronation March op.117 for the coronation of Edward VII (1902)
  • L'Assassinat de duc de Guise op.128 ( film music )
  • La muse et le poète op.132 (1909)
  • Le Carnaval des animaux [The Carnival of the Animals] (1886)
  • Trois Tableaux Symphoniques d'après La Foi op.130 (after the incidental music see below)
  • Festival overture op.133
  • Overture to an unfinished Opéra comique in C major op.140

Work for wind orchestra

  • Orient et Occident op.25 (1869)
  • Sur les bords du Nil op.125 (1908)
  • Marche interalliée, op.155 (1918)
  • Vers la victoire , Pas redoublé op.152 (1918)

Operas, ballet and theater

Operas

  • Frédégonde
  • Le Timbre d'Argent (1865)
  • La Princesse jaune op. 30 (1872)
  • Samson et Dalila op.47 (1877)
  • Étienne Marcel (1879)
  • Henry VIII (1883)
  • Proserpine (1887)
  • Phryné (1893)
  • Les Barbares (1901)
  • Helene (1903)
  • L'Ancêtre (1906)

ballet

  • Javotte (1896)

Incidental music

  • Parysatis (1902)
  • La Foi - Trois tableaux symphoniques, stage music for the play by Eugène Brieux op.130 (1908)

Spiritual works

  • Mass op.4
  • Tantum ergo , Op. 5
  • Oratorio de Noël (Christmas Oratorio) op.12 (1858)
  • Coeli enarrant , Psalm 17 op.42
  • Le Déluge (The Flood), Oratorio op.45
  • Requiem op.54
  • Laudate Dominum, Psalm 150 for double mixed choir, organ and orchestra op.127 (1908)
  • The Promised Land, oratorio for soloists, choir and orchestra (original English version) op.140 (text: Herman Klein, 1913)
    • Das Gelobte Land , Oratorio (German version) op.140 (Text: Otto Neitzel, 1914)
    • La Terre Promise, Oratorio (French version) op.140 (1916)
  • Ave Maria for mixed choir a cappella op.145 (1914)
  • Tu es Petrus for male choir and organ op.147 (1914)
  • Quam Dilecta for mixed choir and organ with harp ad libitum op.148 (1915)
  • Laudate Dominum for mixed choir a cappella op.149 (1915)

literature

  • Michael Stegemann : Camille Saint-Saëns and the French solo concert from 1850 to 1920 . Schott, Mainz / London / New York / Tokyo 1984, ISBN 3-7957-1787-6 .
  • Michael Stegemann: Camille Saint-Saëns. With testimonials and photo documents . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1988, ISBN 3-499-50389-1 .
  • Boris Aljinovic : The Carnival of the Animals and the Kitchen Revue [sound carrier] . Original sound production, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-9810256-5-2 .
  • Camille Saint-Saëns: The Carnival of the Animals . Gretel-Verlag, Dinklage 2011.
  • Giuseppe Clericetti: Camille Saint-Saëns. Il Re degli spiriti musicali . Zecchini, Varese 2016, ISBN 978-88-6540-174-3 .
  • Giuseppe Clericetti: Camille Saint-Saëns. Visionario, artigiano, sperimentatore . Zecchini, Varese 2020, ISBN 978-88-6540-287-0 .
  • Hugh Macdonald , Saint-Saëns and the Stage: Operas, Plays, Pageants, a Ballet and a Film , Cambridge University Press 2019; ISBN 978-1108426381

Movie

  • "The Carnival of the Animals - A piece of music told" (53 min), director / script: Holger Preuße, Philipp Quiring, camera: Sebastian Hattop, Dieter Stürmer, sound: Brigitte Angerhausen ed. Alt., German speaker: Sebastian Koch, editor : Christian Nurtsch-Wesener, WDR / ARTE 2021

Web links

Commons : Camille Saint-Saëns  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Camille Saint-Saëns  - Sources and full texts (French)

Individual evidence

  1. The trema at ë comes from the time when the e was not yet silent. Since the e is silent, the trema has no longer any meaning for pronunciation, e.g. B. also in the name of Madame de Staël .
  2. Concerning the final s : The composer himself wanted his name to be pronounced like the village of Saint-Saëns, which was pronounced without an s at the end [sɛ̃sɑ̃] during his lifetime (and was originally written without the ending -s). French-speaking musicians and intellectuals often still speak the name of the composer traditionally without an s ending. Today, however, the pronunciation with the final s [sɛ̃sɑ̃s] is very common in French, including among radio speakers, analogous to today's pronunciation of the name of the town (cf. Doit-on prononcer le «s» final de Saint-Saëns? ). Duden also gives the pronunciation of Saint-Saëns with the final s.
  3. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: Danse macabre, opus 40 , (English, PDF; 64 kB)
  4. Michael Stegemann: Camille Saint-Saëns. With testimonials and photo documents . Reinbek 1988, p. 40f
predecessor government office successor
Louis Lefébure-Wély Titular organist of the La Madeleine organ
1858–1877
Théodore Dubois