Come to the carnival

A century after his death, the versatile French composer Camille Saint-Saëns is best known for his Carnival of the Animals suite, but there was much more to him than that, reveals Pippa Cuckson

- Pippa Cuckson

HISTORY has dealt an injustice to the Parisian composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921). As a child prodigy, he has deemed the new Mozart and celebrated throughout his 86 years. He composed more than 220 published symphonic, instrumental, choral and operatic works and 140 very French songs. He was the first major French composer to write piano concertos and the first big name to compose for the silver screen (The Assassination of the Duke of Guise, 1908).

He guaranteed his income as organist at the Church of the Madeleine for 20 years, until relieved by a legacy from admirer Albert Libon. Franz Liszt, the era’s most famous virtuoso pianist, was in awe of Saint-Saëns’s facility on any type of keyboard. Yet, since his death in 1921, he has largely dropped off the radar. The average music lover will likely pause after listing The Carnival of the Animals, the ‘Organ Symphony’ and Danse Macabre.

They may occasionally have heard his first cello concerto (of two), his second piano concerto (of five), and his sole enduring opera after many unsuccessful attempts, Samson et Dalila. Cellist Sol Gabetta was surprised that her recent performance of his A Minor cello concerto at the Proms (COUNTRY LIFE, July 28) was only it's third since the Second World War. Until this centenary year, exposure has been modest even in France, the Orchestre de Paris performing Danse Macabre for only the second time in 54 years.