Camille Saint-Saëns

Saint-Saëns was born in Paris in 1835 and died in Algiers in 1921. He was organist at Saint-Merri and then, from 1858 until about 1877, at La Madeleine. He worked within classical forms and is noted for clear structure, orchestration and counterpoint. He admired Liszt, and his four symphonic poems follow Liszt's model.

Le Rouet d'Omphale (1871) was the first of them: Hercules spins wool for three years as Omphale's servant, and a spinning-wheel figure in the strings and woodwinds recurs throughout. Danse macabre (1874) began as a song on a poem by Henri Cazalis. A solo violin has its E string tuned down to E-flat, which gives a tritone, the interval once called the devil in music. A harp plays a single D twelve times for midnight, a xylophone imitates rattling bones, and the piece is built on a minor-key waltz. The Dies irae chant is quoted in a major key, and an oboe imitates a cockerel at dawn. The Symphony No. 3 (1886) was commissioned by the Philharmonic Society of London and dedicated to Liszt's memory. It has two parts of two movements, uses organ and piano, and moves from an agitated C minor to a triumphant C major.

The Cello Concerto No. 1 (1872) is one continuous movement in three sections: a single orchestral chord, then the cello states the main motif. The Violin Sonata No. 1 (1885) is rated by Grove as among his best and most characteristic works. Introduction and Rondo capriccioso (1863) was written for Sarasate. The wind sonatas of 1921, for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, were written to enlarge the repertoire for instruments with few solo works.