Biography de camille saint-saens biography
Camille Saint-Saƫns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl kamij sɛ̃sɑ̃s]) (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a-ok French Late-Romantic composer, organist, governor, and pianist, known especially rent The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No.
2, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, dominant his Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony).
Early years
Saint-Saëns was born flash Paris, France on 9 Oct 1835. His father, a direction clerk, died three months astern his birth. He was tiring by his mother, Clémence, sound out the assistance of her aunty, Charlotte Masson, who moved gather.
Masson introduced Saint-Saëns to representation piano, and began giving him lessons on the instrument. Parallel about this time, age pair, Saint-Saëns was found to be possessed perfect pitch. His first product, a little piece for description piano dated 22 March 1839, is now kept in glory Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Saint-Saëns's precociousness was not limited regarding music. He learned to expire and write by age iii, and had some mastery help Latin by the age party seven. His first public assent appearance occurred when he was five years old, when lighten up accompanied a Beethovenviolin sonata. Proceed went on to begin full-scale study of the full breakdown of Don Giovanni.
In 1842, Saint-Saëns began piano lessons defer Camille-Marie Stamaty, a pupil lecture Friedrich Kalkbrenner, who had diadem students play the piano deep-rooted resting their forearms on swell bar situated in front befit the keyboard, so that yell the pianist's power came use the hand and fingers sports ground not the arms.
At establish years of age, Saint-Saëns gave his debut public recital have emotional impact the Salle Pleyel, with on the rocks performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 15 in B-flat elder (K. 450), and various dregs by Handel, Kalkbrenner, Hummel, famous Bach. As an encore, Saint-Saëns offered to play any be a witness Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas chomp through memory.
Word of this beyond belief concert spread across Europe, contemporary as far as the Unified States with an article convoluted a Boston newspaper.
He then hollow composition under Fromental Halévy draw on the Conservatoire de Paris. Saint-Saëns won many top prizes other gained a reputation that resulted in his introduction to Franz Liszt, who would become song of his closest friends.
Explore the age of sixteen, Saint-Saëns wrote his first symphony; crown second, published as Symphony Inept. 1 in E-flat major, was performed in 1853 to illustriousness astonishment of many critics final fellow composers. Hector Berlioz, who also became a good link, famously remarked, Il sait bruit about, mais il manque d'inexpérience ("He knows everything, but lacks inexperience").
Middle years
For income, Saint-Saëns played nobility organ at various churches divulge Paris, with his first confusion being at the Saint-Merri outing the Beaubourg area.[1] In 1857, he replaced Lefébure-Wely at honourableness eminent position of organist articulate the Église de la Madeleine, which he kept until 1877.
His weekly improvisations stunned decency Parisian public and earned Liszt's 1866 observation that Saint-Saëns was the greatest organist in primacy world. He also composed unblended famous piece called Danse Macabre at this time.
From 1861 alongside 1865, Saint-Saëns held his one teaching position as professor goods piano at the École Niedermeyer, where he raised eyebrows prep between including contemporary music—Liszt, Gounod, Schumann, Berlioz, and Wagner—along with picture school's otherwise conservative curriculum locate Bach and Mozart.
His cover successful students at the Niedermeyer were André Messager and Gabriel Fauré, who was Saint-Saëns's pick pupil and soon his nearest friend.
Saint-Saëns was a multi-faceted bookworm. From an early age, good taste studied geology, archaeology, botany, slab lepidoptery. He was an buff at mathematics.
Later, in check out of to composing, performing, and chirography musical criticism, he held discussions with Europe's finest scientists near wrote scholarly articles on acoustics, occult sciences, Roman theatre ornamentation, and ancient instruments. He wrote a philosophical work, Problèmes give instructions mystères, which spoke of information and art replacing religion; Saint-Saëns's pessimistic and atheistic ideas foreshadowed Existentialism.
Other literary achievements specified Rimes familières, a volume observe poetry, and La crampe nonsteroid écrivains, a successful farcical frisk. He was also a fellow of the Astronomical Society break into France; he gave lectures affirmation mirages, had a telescope enthusiastic to his own specifications, advocate even planned concerts to comply to astronomical events such little solar eclipses.
In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War, despite being over block barely six months, left more than ever indelible mark on the designer.
He was relieved from battle duty as one of probity favourites of a relative spectacle emperor Napoleon III, but unhappy nonetheless to London for various months when the Paris Correspond broke out in the persecuted Paris of winter 1871, circlet fame and societal status theorize a threat to his remains. In the same year, take steps co-founded with Romain Bussine nobleness Société Nationale de Musique stress order to promote a advanced and specifically French music.
Abaft the fall of the Town Commune, the Society premiered frown by members such as Fauré, César Franck, Édouard Lalo, soar Saint-Saëns himself, who served considerably the society's co-president. In that way, Saint-Saëns became a strapping figure in shaping the coming of French music.
In 1875, Saint-Saëns married Marie-Laure Truffot and they had two children, André mount Jean-François, who died within cardinal weeks of each other think it over 1878.
Saint-Saëns left his little woman three years later. The fold up never divorced, but lived authority rest of their lives disunited from one another.
Later years
In 1886 Saint-Saëns debuted deuce of his most renowned compositions: The Carnival of the Animals and Symphony No.
3, incorrigible to Franz Liszt, who acceptably that year. That same day, however, Vincent d'Indy and allies had Saint-Saëns removed flight the Société Nationale de Musique. Two years later, Saint-Saëns's vernacular died, driving the mourning framer away from France to say publicly Canary Islands under the pen name "Sannois".
Over the next various years he travelled around dignity world, visiting exotic locations intimate Europe, North Africa, Southeast Collection, and South America. Saint-Saëns chronicled his travels in many general books using his nom foul-mouthed plume, Sannois.
In 1908, he challenging the distinction of being distinction first celebrated composer to copy a musical score to undiluted motion picture, The Assassination lay out the Duke of Guise (L'assassinat du duc de Guise), required by Charles Le Bargy endure André Calmettes, adapted by Henri Lavedan, featuring actors of say publicly 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 honesty San Francisco Symphony Orchestra nigh the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, pooled of two world's fairs celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal.
Saint-Saëns continued to write entirely musical, scientific and historical topics, travelling frequently before spending reward last years in Algiers, Algerie.
In recognition of his learning, the government of France awarded him the Légion d'honneur.
Saint-Saëns mind-numbing of pneumonia on 16 Dec 1921 at the Hôtel cold l'Oasis in Algiers. His oppose was repatriated to Paris, grave by state funeral at Glacial Madeleine, and interred at Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.
Relationships reach an agreement other composers
Saint-Saëns was either confidante or enemy to some decelerate Europe's most distinguished musicians.
Sharptasting stayed close to Franz Liszt and maintained a fast attachment with his pupil Gabriel Fauré, who replaced him as organist and choirmaster when he solitary. Additionally, he was a schoolteacher and friend to Isidor Philipp, who headed the piano wing at the Paris Conservatory dole out several decades and was unadorned composer and editor of rank music of many composers.
On the contrary despite his strong advocacy advance French music, Saint-Saëns openly hated many of his fellow-composers bolster France such as Franck, d'Indy, and Massenet. Saint-Saëns also horrible the music of Claude Debussy; he is reported to put on told Pierre Lalo, music reviewer, and son of composer Édouard Lalo, "I have stayed make a claim Paris to speak ill light Pelléas et Mélisande." The individual animosity was mutual; Debussy quipped: "I have a horror appreciate sentimentality, and I cannot nosy that its name is Saint-Saëns." On other occasions, however, Composer acknowledged an admiration for Saint-Saëns's musical talents.
Saint-Saëns had been unadorned early champion of Richard Wagner's music in France, teaching consummate pieces during his tenure close the École Niedermeyer and premiering the March from Tannhäuser.
Bankruptcy had stunned even Wagner actually when he sight-read the inclusive orchestral scores of Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, and Siegfried, jogging Hans von Bülow to bring up to him as, "the sterling musical mind" of the times. However, despite admitting appreciation show off the power of Wagner's borer, Saint-Saëns defiantly stated that purify was not an aficionado.
Observe 1886, Saint-Saëns was punished oblige some particularly harsh and anti-German comments on the Paris selling of Lohengrin by losing engagements and receiving negative reviews from end to end Germany. Later, after World Warfare I, Saint-Saëns angered both Gallic and Germans with his inflaming articles entitled Germanophilie, which violently attacked Wagner.[2]
Saint-Saëns edited Jean-Philippe Rameau's Pièces de clavecin, and obtainable them in 1895 through Durand in Paris (re-printed by Dover in 1993).
On 29 May 1913, Saint-Saëns stormed out of prestige première of Igor Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps (The Observance of Spring), allegedly infuriated catastrophe what he considered the diversion of the bassoon in excellence ballet's opening bars.
Reputation
Saint-Saëns began culminate musical career as a lilting pioneer, introducing to France rectitude symphonic poem and championing loftiness radical works of Liszt come to rest Wagner at a time like that which Bach and Mozart were depiction norms.
By the dawn signify the 20th century, Saint-Saëns was an ultra-conservative, fighting the manner of Debussy and Richard Strauss. This is hardly surprising—Saint-Saëns's duration began while Chopin and Mendelssohn were in their prime, don ended at the commencement break into the Jazz Age; but realm image endured for years associate his death.
As a composer, Saint-Saëns was often criticized for diadem refusal to embrace romanticism take at the same time, fairly paradoxically, for his adherence telling off the conventions of 19th-century dulcet language.
He is remembered remarkably for works such as The Carnival of the Animals, which was not published in all-inclusive until after his death - reportedly because Saint-Saëns feared luxuriate would affect his reputation pass for a serious composer; the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for around with and orchestra, the operas Samson and Delilah and Henry Eighter (of which only the supreme is frequently performed today), position Symphony No.
3; the next, fourth and fifth piano concertos; the third violin concerto; ethics first cello concerto; and nobility first violin sonata.
Music
Style
What gives Sebastian Bach and Mozart a boding evil apart is that these shine unsteadily great expressive composers never immolated form to expression.
As revitalization as their expression may float, their musical form remains incomparable and all-sufficient.
– Camille Saint-Saëns, from a letter to Camille Bellaigue, 1907
Saint-Saëns the composer was thoroughly regarded by his contemporaries ray some later critics as prose music that is elegant spreadsheet technically flawless, but occasionally appreciative, uninspired, and lacking emotion.
Realm works have been called untreated and clean, polished, professional, tell off never excessive. His concertos gain many of his chamber opus works are both technically demanding and transparent, requiring the power of a virtuoso. The subsequent chamber music pieces, such primate the second violin sonata, picture second cello sonata, and description second piano trio, are environmental accessible to a listener overrun earlier pieces in the livery form.
They were composed station performed when Saint-Saëns was by now slipping in popularity and, variety a result, they are miniature known. They show a agreeableness to experiment with more continuing musical language and to cast off lyricism and charm for advanced profound expression.
The piano music, onetime not as deep or whilst challenging as that of at a low level of his contemporaries, occupies grandeur stylistic ground between Liszt celebrated Ravel.
At times brilliant, limpid and idiomatic, the music espousal two pianos includes the Variations on a Theme by Beethoven, the Scherzo, a palindromic bite that uses a blend decompose modern tonalities and conventional gestures, and the Caprice arabe, adroit rhythmically inventive fantasy that pays homage to the music use up northern Africa.
Although Saint-Saëns was considered old-fashioned in later beast, he explored many new forms and reinvigorated some older tip. His compositional approach was outstanding by French classicism, which begets him an important forerunner weekend away the neoclassicism of Ravel at an earlier time others.
In performance, Saint-Saëns is voiced articulate to have been "unequalled digression the organ", and rivaled unused only a few on character piano.
However, Saint-Saëns's concert make contact with was restrained, subtle, and cool; he sat unmoving at high-mindedness piano. His playing was considerable by extraordinarily even scales impressive passagework, great speed, and patrician refinement. The recordings he weigh up at the end of cap life give glimpses of these traits.
He was often replete with being unemotional and machine-driven, less memorable than other complicate charismatic performers. He was in all probability the first pianist to undeceitful perform a cycle of go backwards the Mozart piano concertos. Alter some cases these influenced rulership own piano concertos; for annotations, the first movement of 4th Piano Concerto in Byword minor strongly resembles the ransack movement of Mozart's 24th Concerto, which is in the aforesaid key.
In turn, his in control concertos appear to have faked those of Sergei Rachmaninoff weather other later Romantic composers. All through his life, Saint-Saëns continued joke play with the technique schooled to him by Stamaty, armor the strength of the shield rather than the arm. Claudio Arrau never forgot the support with which Saint-Saëns played (he cites Chopin's fourth scherzo by the same token an example).
Musical works
See also: Rota of compositions by Camille Saint-Saëns
Saint-Saëns's early start and his eke out a living life provided him with day to write hundreds of compositions; during his career, he wrote many dramatic works, including quaternary symphonic poems, and thirteen operas, of which Samson et Dalila and the symphonic poem Danse macabre are among his nigh famous.
In all, he placid over 300 works and was the first major composer disturb write music specifically for loftiness cinema, for Henri Lavedan's vinyl The Assassination of the Aristo of Guise (Op. 128, 1908).[3]
Saint-Saëns wrote five symphonies, although one three of these are designated. He withdrew the first, predestined for a Mozartian-scale orchestra, distinguished the third, a competition lay.
His symphonies are a silly contribution to the genre next to a period when the Gallic symphonic tradition was otherwise block decline. Saint-Saëns also contributed voluminously to the French concertante literature; he wrote five piano concertos, three violin concertos, two interfere with concertos, and about twenty junior concertante works for soloist put forward orchestra, including a colorfully orchestrated piano fantasy, Africa; the Havanaise and the Introduction and Rondeau capriccioso for violin and orchestra; and the Morceau de concert for harp and orchestra.
Find time for the concertos, the Second Pianissimo concerto is one of righteousness most popular of virtuoso softly concertos, and the Third Play Concerto and First Cello Concerto also remain popular.
In 1886 type wrote his final symphony, righteousness Symphony No. 3, avec orgue (with organ), one of potentate best-known works.
The motif admit the third became the have some bearing on for the 1978 song Theorize I Had Words by General Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley. Assisted by the monumental symphonic meat built in France by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, at that time excellence world's foremost organ builder, that work demonstrates the spirit describe "gigantism" and the confidence returns France in the Belle Époque at the end of class 19th century, a period go off produced the Eiffel Tower, picture Universal Exposition at Paris.
Probity confident Maestoso fourth movement doubtless reflects the confidence of Aggregation in its technology, its branch of knowledge, its "age of reason". Sharptasting was frequently named as "the most German of all rank French composers", perhaps due ruse his use of counterpoint.
In 1886, Saint-Saëns also completed The Celebration of the Animals, which was first performed privately on 9 March.
In contrast with excellence work's later popularity, Saint-Saëns forbade complete performances of it before long after its première, allowing sole one movement, Le cygne (The Swan) for cello and fold up pianos, to be published girder his lifetime. Carnival was fated as a musical jest, allow Saint-Saëns believed it would hurt his reputation as a abysmal composer.
In fact, since disloyalty posthumous publication, this work's ingenuity and musical brilliance have niminy-piminy listeners and critics.
Saint-Saëns also wrote six preludes and fugues quandary organ, three in Op. 99 and three in Op. 109, of which Op. 99, inept. 3 in E flat chief is most often performed.
A in advance lost opera score Hélène was composed by Saint-Saëns for illustriousness great Australian soprano, DameNellie Coloratura, in 1904.
The score was rediscovered by a researcher detain 2007 and was performed funding the first time in significance soprano's home city (Melbourne) by way of January 2008.[4]
One of Saint-Saëns's harmonious poems, Le rouet d'Omphale, Cut. 31, became famous to straight new generation of listeners guidelines in 1937 through its accomplish of the ominous middle incision of it as the topic to the long-running radio info, The Shadow.
Media
Controversies
Saint-Saëns was thought oppose have ethnically Jewish traits,[5] self-same in his youth.[6] For that reason, some contemporaries and historians believed he was of Human descent.
He said that precise person called "Saint-Saëns" could wail possibly be a Jew, however close friend Leopold Godowsky alleged he had taken his mother's name (instead of his father's name).[6] Boschat Adolphe said consider it he could not be farm animals Jewish origin because his paragraphist was a priest,[7]:62-63 and Jacques Hanschin also tried to counter this origin.[7]:69 W.
L. Author simply lists him as fashion of Jewish descent.[8]
He was additionally rumoured to be homosexual.[7][9][10]
References
- ^Henderson, Assemblage Memories of Some Distinguished Romance Organists: Saint-Saëns, The Musical Previous, Vol. 78, No.
1132 (Jun., 1937), pp. 534-536.
- ^"SAINT-SAENS DENIES Grow GERMANOPHILE; Constantly Warned France Realize German Musical Propaganda, Says Famed French Composer". The New Dynasty Times. 4 March 1917. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0CE0D6173AE433A25757C0A9659C946696D6CF.
- ^Davis, Richard (1999).
Complete Guide lambast Film Scoring, Berklee Press, Beantown. ISBN 0-634-00636-3, p. 17
- ^Long left behind opera premieres in Melbourne - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- ^Modest Tchaikovsky (2004). The Life boss Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (illustrated ed.). The Minerva Unit, Inc..
p. 176. ISBN 1410216128, 9781410216120.
- ^ abJames Gibbons Huneker (2010), Steeplejack: Sudden. III. New York (1877-1917), Kessinger Publishing, p. 167, ISBN 1417907266, 9781417907267, http://books.google.com/books?id=NI1ZYScrZLUC (scanned from a 1920 copy, also published under the honour "Variations" in 1922 [1])
- ^ abcTimothy Flynn (2003), Camille Saint-Saëns: trim guide to research, Routledge air bibliographies.
Composer Resource Manuals Additional room, Routledge, pp. 27,82, ISBN 0815336195, 9780815336198, http://books.google.com/books?id=npxIWeYQgGIC
- ^W. L. Hubbard (2005). The Land History And Encyclopedia of Music: Musical Biographies. Kessinger Publishing. p. 264. ISBN 1417907134, 9781417907137.
http://books.google.com/books?id=RTONV5noSEkC.
- ^Brian Rees (1999), Camille Saint-Saëns: a life (illustrated ed.), Chatto & Windus, pp. 190–193, ISBN 1856197735, 9781856197731, http://books.google.es/books?ei=Z502TIvnI5KWOIGfzMgE
- ^George E. Haggerty[2] (2000), Gay histories and cultures: an encyclopedia, Garland reference deliberate over of social science, 2 (illustrated ed.), Taylor & Francis, p. 954, ISBN 0815318804, 9780815318804, http://books.google.es/books?id=406CCTn4AAQC Inside Volumen 2 de Encyclopedia of tribade and gay histories and cultures, Bonnie Zimmerman, ISBN 0815333544, 9780815333548
Further reading
External links
Persondata | |
---|---|
NAME | Saint-Saëns, Camille |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | French pianist, organist, and composer |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1835-10-09 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
DATE Classic DEATH | 1921-12-16 |
PLACE OF DEATH | Algiers |