Short biography of French composer Camille Saint-Saens, organist and pianist, known for suite 'Carnaval des Animaux' and the opera 'Samson et Dalila'.
French composer and pianist Saint-Saëns is best remembered for his orchestral Carnaval des animaux (Carnival of the Animals). The best-known movements are "The Aquarium" and "The Swan." He also composed the opera Samson et Dalila.
He loved travelling and often arranged concerts. He enjoyed Africa, Uruguay, South America, and Algiers where he died at 86. He married a much younger woman and had two sons but both boys died within six weeks of each other. Fauré was not only his protegé but a close friend, and in the Fauré home, he assumed the “favourite uncle” role.
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), was born on October 9, in Paris. His father was a civil servant. He was raised by his mother and aunt Charlotte Masson, who gave him his first piano lessons before entering Paris Conservatoire in 1848. Like some of history’s great composers, he was also a child prodigy and a piano virtuoso. He made his concert debut as a pianist, aged 10.
Early on, his dazzling talents won him the admiration of Gounod, Rossini, Berlioz and especially Liszt, who hailed him as the world’s greatest organist. He excelled in Mozart works and was praised for the purity and grace of his playing, as well, he wrote in all established forms, from opera to chamber music.
French characteristics of his conservative musical style reside in his best compositions, for example, his classically oriented sonatas especially for violin and cello, chamber music Piano Quartet op.41, symphonies (No.3, the ‘Organ’ symphony) and concertos (No.4 for piano, No.3 for violin). Among his many lyrical Romantic pieces are the celebrated symphonic poem Danse macabre, the opera with a biblical theme Samson et Dalila (Samson and Delilah, first heard at Weimar), and the orchestral Carnaval des Animaux (Carnival of the Animals) which he entitled “grand zoological fantasy” written for two pianos and a small orchestra.
Saint-Saens was one of the most significant French composers of the 19th century. While advocating a Classical renaissance, he bridged the Romantic era and its transition to the modern age.
The Encyclopedia of Music by Max Wade-Matthews & Wendy Thompson, Hermes House (2002)
The Grove concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan (1994)
The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham, OUP (2002)