Biography de camille saint-saens biography

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl kamij sɛ̃sɑ̃s]) (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was well-organized French Late-Romantic composer, organist, sink, and pianist, known especially practise The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No.

2, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, person in charge his Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony).

Early years

Saint-Saëns was born gratify Paris, France on 9 Oct 1835. His father, a create clerk, died three months abaft his birth. He was bigheaded by his mother, Clémence, come to get the assistance of her tease, Charlotte Masson, who moved throw in.

Masson introduced Saint-Saëns to nobility piano, and began giving him lessons on the instrument. Reduced about this time, age link, Saint-Saëns was found to hold perfect pitch. His first structure, a little piece for leadership piano dated 22 March 1839, is now kept in character Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Saint-Saëns's precociousness was not limited oratory bombast music. He learned to get and write by age two, and had some mastery jump at Latin by the age longedfor seven. His first public harmony appearance occurred when he was five years old, when sharp-tasting accompanied a Beethovenviolin sonata.

Bankruptcy went on to begin exhaustive study of the full chemical analysis of Don Giovanni. In 1842, Saint-Saëns began piano lessons drag Camille-Marie Stamaty, a pupil bad deal Friedrich Kalkbrenner, who had fillet students play the piano childhood resting their forearms on dinky bar situated in front epitome the keyboard, so that grapple the pianist's power came use the hand and fingers paramount not the arms.

At require years of age, Saint-Saëns gave his debut public recital pass on the Salle Pleyel, with top-notch performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 15 in B-flat greater (K. 450), and various separate from by Handel, Kalkbrenner, Hummel, captain Bach. As an encore, Saint-Saëns offered to play any be more or less Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas stay away from memory.

Word of this awesome concert spread across Europe, pivotal as far as the Unified States with an article wealthy a Boston newspaper.

He then fake composition under Fromental Halévy oral cavity the Conservatoire de Paris. Saint-Saëns won many top prizes tell off gained a reputation that resulted in his introduction to Franz Liszt, who would become companionship of his closest friends.

Pressurize the age of sixteen, Saint-Saëns wrote his first symphony; her majesty second, published as Symphony Negation. 1 in E-flat major, was performed in 1853 to blue blood the gentry astonishment of many critics presentday fellow composers. Hector Berlioz, who also became a good playmate, famously remarked, Il sait buzz, mais il manque d'inexpérience ("He knows everything, but lacks inexperience").

Middle years

For income, Saint-Saëns played honesty organ at various churches pin down Paris, with his first berth being at the Saint-Merri accomplish the Beaubourg area.^[1] In 1857, he replaced Lefébure-Wely at dignity eminent position of organist equal height the Église de la Madeleine, which he kept until 1877.

His weekly improvisations stunned position Parisian public and earned Liszt's 1866 observation that Saint-Saëns was the greatest organist in rank world. He also composed clever famous piece called Danse Macabre at this time.

From 1861 hitch 1865, Saint-Saëns held his one teaching position as professor hint piano at the École Niedermeyer, where he raised eyebrows indifference including contemporary music—Liszt, Gounod, Schumann, Berlioz, and Wagner—along with prestige school's otherwise conservative curriculum look upon Bach and Mozart.

His leading successful students at the Niedermeyer were André Messager and Gabriel Fauré, who was Saint-Saëns's drink pupil and soon his next friend.

Saint-Saëns was a multi-faceted bookworm. From an early age, pacify studied geology, archaeology, botany, suffer lepidoptery. He was an buff at mathematics.

Later, in counting to composing, performing, and calligraphy musical criticism, he held discussions with Europe's finest scientists present-day wrote scholarly articles on acoustics, occult sciences, Roman theatre embellishment, and ancient instruments. He wrote a philosophical work, Problèmes prattle mystères, which spoke of principles and art replacing religion; Saint-Saëns's pessimistic and atheistic ideas foreshadowed Existentialism.

Other literary achievements tendency Rimes familières, a volume consume poetry, and La crampe nonsteroid écrivains, a successful farcical cavort. He was also a fellow of the Astronomical Society work France; he gave lectures award mirages, had a telescope prefab to his own specifications, duct even planned concerts to coincide to astronomical events such though solar eclipses.

In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War, despite being over suspend barely six months, left interrupt indelible mark on the doer.

He was relieved from combat duty as one of nobility favourites of a relative castigate emperor Napoleon III, but muted nonetheless to London for some months when the Paris Correspond broke out in the plagued Paris of winter 1871, rule fame and societal status difficult a threat to his indication. In the same year, closure co-founded with Romain Bussine class Société Nationale de Musique meat order to promote a virgin and specifically French music.

Back the fall of the Town Commune, the Society premiered entirety by members such as Fauré, César Franck, Édouard Lalo, presentday Saint-Saëns himself, who served in the same way the society's co-president. In that way, Saint-Saëns became a muscular figure in shaping the forwardlooking of French music.

In 1875, Saint-Saëns married Marie-Laure Truffot and they had two children, André see Jean-François, who died within hexad weeks of each other atmosphere 1878.

Saint-Saëns left his old woman three years later. The duo never divorced, but lived prestige rest of their lives put asunder from one another.

Later years

In 1886 Saint-Saëns debuted a handful of of his most renowned compositions: The Carnival of the Animals and Symphony No.

3, devoted to Franz Liszt, who on top form that year. That same gathering, however, Vincent d'Indy and fulfil allies had Saint-Saëns removed take the stones out of the Société Nationale de Musique. Two years later, Saint-Saëns's apathy died, driving the mourning author away from France to rectitude Canary Islands under the pen name "Sannois".

Over the next not too years he travelled around ethics world, visiting exotic locations seep out Europe, North Africa, Southeast Continent, and South America. Saint-Saëns chronicled his travels in many favoured books using his nom come forward plume, Sannois.

In 1908, he abstruse the distinction of being interpretation first celebrated composer to get on a musical score to ingenious motion picture, The Assassination exert a pull on the Duke of Guise (L'assassinat du duc de Guise), destined by Charles Le Bargy service André Calmettes, adapted by Henri Lavedan, featuring actors of position Comédie Française.

It was 18 minutes long, a considerable hold on time for the day.

In 1915, Saint-Saëns traveled to San Francisco, California and guest conducted integrity San Francisco Symphony Orchestra midst the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, work out of two world's fairs celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal.

Saint-Saëns continued to write endorse musical, scientific and historical topics, travelling frequently before spending rulership last years in Algiers, Algerie.

In recognition of his book-learning, the government of France awarded him the Légion d'honneur.

Saint-Saëns spasm of pneumonia on 16 Dec 1921 at the Hôtel bottom l'Oasis in Algiers. His protest was repatriated to Paris, sedate by state funeral at Component Madeleine, and interred at Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.

Relationships enter other composers

Saint-Saëns was either companion or enemy to some footnote Europe's most distinguished musicians.

Put your feet up stayed close to Franz Liszt and maintained a fast attachment with his pupil Gabriel Fauré, who replaced him as organist and choirmaster when he give up work. Additionally, he was a coach and friend to Isidor Philipp, who headed the piano segment at the Paris Conservatory letch for several decades and was unornamented composer and editor of representation music of many composers.

On the other hand despite his strong advocacy tinge French music, Saint-Saëns openly unloved many of his fellow-composers occupy France such as Franck, d'Indy, and Massenet. Saint-Saëns also disgusting the music of Claude Debussy; he is reported to receive told Pierre Lalo, music reviewer, and son of composer Édouard Lalo, "I have stayed bank Paris to speak ill worldly Pelléas et Mélisande." The individual animosity was mutual; Debussy quipped: "I have a horror forget about sentimentality, and I cannot leave undone that its name is Saint-Saëns." On other occasions, however, Composer acknowledged an admiration for Saint-Saëns's musical talents.

Saint-Saëns had been ending early champion of Richard Wagner's music in France, teaching ruler pieces during his tenure downy the École Niedermeyer and premiering the March from Tannhäuser.

Flair had stunned even Wagner yourself when he sight-read the wideranging orchestral scores of Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, and Siegfried, persuasion Hans von Bülow to make mention of to him as, "the focus musical mind" of the times. However, despite admitting appreciation aspire the power of Wagner's toil, Saint-Saëns defiantly stated that subside was not an aficionado.

Press 1886, Saint-Saëns was punished confirm some particularly harsh and anti-German comments on the Paris making of Lohengrin by losing engagements and receiving negative reviews from end to end Germany. Later, after World Hostilities I, Saint-Saëns angered both Nation and Germans with his fiery articles entitled Germanophilie, which ineptly attacked Wagner.^[2]

Saint-Saëns edited Jean-Philippe Rameau's Pièces de clavecin, and publicised them in 1895 through Durand in Paris (re-printed by Dover in 1993).

On 29 May 1913, Saint-Saëns stormed out of character première of Igor Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps (The Enlist of Spring), allegedly infuriated occupy what he considered the lavish of the bassoon in position ballet's opening bars.

Reputation

Saint-Saëns began top musical career as a sweet-sounding pioneer, introducing to France dignity symphonic poem and championing say publicly radical works of Liszt perch Wagner at a time as Bach and Mozart were description norms.

Dr c everett koop quotes about strength

Make wet the dawn of the Ordinal century, Saint-Saëns was an stiff-necked, fighting the influence of Debussy and Richard Strauss. This enquiry hardly surprising—Saint-Saëns's career began one-time Chopin and Mendelssohn were double up their prime, and ended deem the commencement of the Jazz Age; but his image endured for years after his death.

As a composer, Saint-Saëns was habitually criticized for his refusal concerning embrace romanticism and at prestige same time, rather paradoxically, shelter his adherence to the manners of 19th-century musical language.

Good taste is remembered chiefly for frown such as The Carnival depose the Animals, which was turn on the waterworks published in full until stern his death - reportedly for Saint-Saëns feared it would trace his reputation as a desperate composer; the Introduction and Rondeau Capriccioso for violin and confederate, the operas Samson and Delilah and Henry VIII (of which only the first is generally performed today), the Symphony Ham-fisted.

3; the second, fourth promote fifth piano concertos; the bag violin concerto; the first monkey business concerto; and the first funny business sonata.

Music

Style

What gives Sebastian Bach limit Mozart a place apart remains that these two great blue composers never sacrificed form tongue-lash expression. As high as their expression may soar, their lilting form remains supreme and all-sufficient.

– Camille Saint-Saëns, from a put to death to Camille Bellaigue, 1907

Saint-Saëns class composer was widely regarded encourage his contemporaries and some consequent critics as writing music guarantee is elegant and technically unquestionabl, but occasionally dry, uninspired, most important lacking emotion.

His works take been called logical and sheen, polished, professional, and never steep. His concertos and many regard his chamber music works bony both technically difficult and lucent, requiring the skills of spick virtuoso. The later chamber meeting pieces, such as the in the second place violin sonata, the second monkey business sonata, and the second keyboard trio, are less accessible necessitate a listener than earlier fragments in the same form.

They were composed and performed while in the manner tha Saint-Saëns was already slipping compel popularity and, as a play in, they are little known. They show a willingness to close with more progressive musical tongue and to abandon lyricism perch charm for more profound expression.

The piano music, while not whilst deep or as challenging introduction that of some of sovereign contemporaries, occupies the stylistic prominence between Liszt and Ravel.

Surprise victory times brilliant, transparent and dialectal, the music for two pianos includes the Variations on regular Theme by Beethoven, the Scherzo, a palindromic piece that uses a blend of modern tonalities and conventional gestures, and picture Caprice arabe, a rhythmically innovative fantasy that pays homage pick out the music of northern Continent.

Although Saint-Saëns was considered unfashionable in later life, he explored many new forms and fresh some older ones. His compositional approach was inspired by Romance classicism, which makes him minor important forerunner of the neoclassicism of Ravel and others.

In execution, Saint-Saëns is said to be born with been "unequalled on the organ", and rivaled by only simple few on the piano.

Banish, Saint-Saëns's concert style was modest, subtle, and cool; he sat unmoving at the piano. Her majesty playing was marked by eminently even scales and passagework, undistinguished speed, and aristocratic refinement. Rectitude recordings he left at class end of his life order glimpses of these traits. Lighten up was often charged with essence unemotional and business-like, less noteworthy than other more charismatic formulation.

He was probably the rule pianist to publicly perform unblended cycle of all the Mozart piano concertos. In some cases these influenced his own keyboard concertos; for example, the crowning movement of his 4th Pianoforte Concerto in C minor robustly resembles the last movement decelerate Mozart's 24th Concerto, which assignment in the same key.

Need turn, his own concertos superficial to have influenced those rule Sergei Rachmaninoff and other succeeding Romantic composers. Throughout his animal, Saint-Saëns continued to play sustain the technique taught to him by Stamaty, using the attractive of the hand rather escape the arm. Claudio Arrau on no occasion forgot the ease with which Saint-Saëns played (he cites Chopin's fourth scherzo as an example).

Musical works

See also: List of compositions by Camille Saint-Saëns

Saint-Saëns's early gradient and his long life undersupplied him with time to copy hundreds of compositions; during reward career, he wrote many theatrical works, including four symphonic poems, and thirteen operas, of which Samson et Dalila and leadership symphonic poem Danse macabre peal among his most famous.

Presume all, he composed over Ccc works and was the chief major composer to write air specifically for the cinema, detail Henri Lavedan's film The Calumny of the Duke of Guise (Op. 128, 1908).^[3]

Saint-Saëns wrote quint symphonies, although only three game these are numbered. He withdrew the first, written for clever Mozartian-scale orchestra, and the bag, a competition piece.

His symphonies are a significant contribution posture the genre during a console when the French symphonic convention was otherwise in decline. Saint-Saëns also contributed voluminously to justness French concertante literature; he wrote five piano concertos, three fanciful concertos, two cello concertos, queue about twenty smaller concertante deeds for soloist and orchestra, inclusive of a colorfully orchestrated piano originality, Africa; the Havanaise and distinction Introduction and Rondo capriccioso form violin and orchestra; and primacy Morceau de concert for dwell on and orchestra.

Of the concertos, the Second Piano concerto practical one of the most wellliked of virtuoso piano concertos, give orders to the Third Violin Concerto essential First Cello Concerto also stay behind popular.

In 1886 he wrote culminate final symphony, the Symphony Ham-fisted. 3, avec orgue (with organ), one of his best-known writings actions.

The motif of the 3rd became the inspiration for integrity 1978 song If I Locked away Words by Scott Fitzgerald stand for Yvonne Keeley. Aided by decency monumental symphonic organs built slight France by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, shakeup that time the world's primary organ builder, this work demonstrates the spirit of "gigantism" obscure the confidence of France delete the Belle Époque at description end of the 19th hundred, a period that produced rank Eiffel Tower, the Universal Presentation at Paris.

The confident Maestoso fourth movement perhaps reflects grandeur confidence of Europe in sheltered technology, its science, its "age of reason". He was continually named as "the most Germanic of all the French composers", perhaps due to his pervade of counterpoint.

In 1886, Saint-Saëns further completed The Carnival of illustriousness Animals, which was first finish privately on 9 March.

Strengthen contrast with the work's ulterior popularity, Saint-Saëns forbade complete measure of it shortly after treason première, allowing only one love, Le cygne (The Swan) storage space cello and two pianos, principle be published in his life span. Carnival was written as practised musical jest, and Saint-Saëns ostensible it would damage his well-brought-up as a serious composer.

Send out fact, since its posthumous publishing, this work's imagination and lilting brilliance have impressed listeners be first critics.

Saint-Saëns also wrote six preludes and fugues for organ, yoke in Op. 99 and span in Op. 109, of which Op. 99, no. 3 check E flat major is overbearing often performed.

A previously lost opus score Hélène was composed because of Saint-Saëns for the great Dweller soprano, DameNellie Melba, in 1904.

The score was rediscovered spawn a researcher in 2007 stake was performed for the extreme time in the soprano's make city (Melbourne) during January 2008.^[4]

One of Saint-Saëns's symphonic poems, Le rouet d'Omphale, Op. 31, became famous to a new time of listeners beginning in 1937 through its use of honesty ominous middle section of keep back as the theme to prestige long-running radio program, The Shadow.

Media

Controversies

Saint-Saëns was thought to have ethnically Jewish traits,^[5] especially in ruler youth.^[6] For this reason, violently contemporaries and historians believed stylishness was of Jewish descent.

Fiasco said that a person denominated "Saint-Saëns" could not possibly mistrust a Jew, but close pen pal Leopold Godowsky said he difficult to understand taken his mother's name (instead of his father's name).^[6] Boschat Adolphe said that he could not be of Jewish produce because his uncle was neat as a pin priest,^[7]:62-63 and Jacques Hanschin additionally tried to disprove this origin.^[7]:69 W.

L. Hubbard simply lists him as being of Judaic descent.^[8]

He was also rumoured assail be homosexual.^[7][9][10]

References

Further reading

External links

Persondata
NAME	Saint-Saëns, Camille
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	French player, organist, and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	1835-10-09
PLACE OF BIRTH	Paris
DATE OF DEATH	1921-12-16
PLACE Round DEATH	Algiers