Symphony in A major (Saint-Saëns)

Saint-Saëns in 1858

The Symphony in A major is a work for orchestra by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns .

Instrumentation and sentence names

instrumentation

2 flutes

2 oboes

2 clarinets

2 bassoons

2 horns

2 trumpets

Timpani

Strings

Sentence names

1. Poco adagio - Allegro vivace (A major)
2. Andantino (D major)
3. Scherzo vivace (A major)
4. Finale: Allegro molto - Presto (A major)

General

Saint-Saëns wrote the symphony in 1850 at the age of 15; it thus belongs to the composer's earliest work. With her, Saint-Saëns turned to absolute music , which at that time was little appreciated in France .

The work contains obvious influences from the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven .

Today the work is only played very rarely, and Saint-Saëns' 3rd Symphony is the only one of his five symphonies that can be heard more often.

literature

• Philippe Mongeot: Saint Saëns: The Five Symphonies , Supplement to Jean Martinon (conductor): Saint-Saëns: Les 5 Symphonies , EMI , 2003

Web links

• Sheet music and scores in the International Music Score Library Project

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Philippe Mongeot: Saint Saens: The five symphonies