SAINT-SAËNS, Camille
b Paris, 9 October 1835
d Algiers, 16 December 1921, aged eighty-six
His family was of peasant origin. He started piano lessons at the age of seven and played in public at the age of ten. He went to the Paris Conservatory in 1848 and entered Halevy's composition class in 1851. In 1852 he failed to win the Prix de Rome. He became organist at Saint-Merry in 1853 and at the Madeleine in 1857. His only period of teaching was from 1861 to 1865 at the Ecole Niedermeyer, where his pupils included Fauré and Messager. He failed the Prix de Rome again in 1864; but his friendship with Liszt helped to establish him as a composer. In 1868, at the age of thirty-three, he was decorated with the Legion d'honneur. In 1875 he began the first of many triumphant foreign concert tours. Cambridge awarded him an honorary doctorate. After 1890 he wrote little of musical consequence, but was able to indulge his literary gifts.
1855 (20)
Symphony No 1 in Eb major
Piano Quintet in A major, with double-bass ad lib
1857 (22)
Organ Fantasia No 1
1858 (23)
Piano Concerto No 1 in D major
1859 (24)
Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor
1863 (28)
Piano Trio No 1 in F major
1866 (31)
Suite in D minor for piano, cello (violin or viola)
1868 (33)
Piano Concerto No 2 in G minor
1869 (34)
Piano Concerto No 3 in E flat major
1870 (35)
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, for violin and orchestra
Melodies persanes, six songs
1871 (36)
Omphale's Spinning-wheel, symphonic poem
Marche héroique, for orchestra
1872 (37)
La Princesse jaune, opera
1873 (38)
Cello Concerto No 1 in A minor
Phaeton, symphonic poem
1874 (39)
Danse macabre, symphonic poem
1875 (40)
Piano Concerto No 4 in C minor
1876 (41)
The Deluge, oratorio
1877 (42)
Samson and Delilah, opera
La Jeunesse d'Hercule, symphonic poem
Suite for orchestra
1878 (43)
Symphony No 2 in A minor
1879 (44)
Violin Concerto No 2 in C major
Suite Algérienne
1880 (45)
Violin Concerto No 3 in B minor
1885 (50)
Violin Sonata No 1 in D minor
1886 (51)
Le Carnaval des animaux, for piano and orchestra
Symphony No 3 in C minor, with organ and two pianos
1892 (57)
Piano Trio No 2 in E minor
1894 (59)
Preludes and Fugues for organ
1895 (60)
Piano Concerto No 5 in F major
1896 (61)
Violin Sonata No 2 in Eb major
1897 (62)
Seven Improvisations for grand organ
1898 (63)
Preludes and Fugues for organ
1900 (65)
String Quartet in E minor
1902 (67)
Cello Concerto No 2 in D minor
Coronation March
1913 (78)
fp The Promised Land, oratorio
1915 (80)
La cendre rouge, ten songs
1918 (83)
Fantasia No 3, for organ
Saint-Saëns also composed:
Serenade for piano, organ, violin, and viola (or cello)
Cello Sonata No 1 in C minor
Piano Quartet in Bb major
Septet in Eb major for piano, trumpet, oboe and string quartet
Caprice on Danish and Russian Airs
Cello Sonata No 2 in F major
Fantaisie, for harp and violin
Le Muse et le poete, for piano trio
String Quartet in G major
Clarinet Sonata in Eb major
Bassoon Sonata in G major