Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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208 SAINT-SAENS SAINT-SAENS
prize at the International Exhibition of 1867,
and performed with great &lat, but these successes
could not content him, and he produced
'La Princesse jaune,' one act, at the Opera-
Comique, June 12, 1872, and 'Le Timbre
d'argent,' a fantastic opera in four acts, at the
Theatre Lyrique, Feb. 23, 1877. Both operas
were comparative failures ; and, doubtless discouraged
by so harsh a judgment from the
Parisian public, he produced his next work,
'Samson et Dalila,' a sacred drama (Deo. 2,
1877), at Weimar, and ' Etienne'Maroel, ' opera
in four acts (Feb. 8, 1879), at Lyons. [' Henri
VIII.' was produced at the Opera, March 5,
1883, and not given in England until 1898 ;
' Proserpine ' was given at the Op6ra-Comique,
March 16, 1887, 'Ascanio' at the Gp^ra, March
21, 1890, 'Phryn^'inMayl893, 'Fr^degonde'
(completion of Guiraud's unfinished opera) in
1895, 'Les Barbares'in 1901, 'Parysatis' in
1902 in the ancient theatre of Beziers, Andromaque'
'
in 1903, 'H^lene' (one-act, Monte Carlo,
'
Feb. 18, 1904, and Covent Garden, June 20 of
the same year); 'L'Anoetre,' produced Feb. 24,
1906, at Monte Carlo, is the master's last opera.
His 'Javotte,' a two -act ballet, was given at
Lyons and Brussels in 1896, music to 'Antigone'
CTh. Franjais, 1893), and 'D^janire,' incidental
music to Gallet's play, at the Odeon, Nov.
11, 1898. He also vrrote music to Le Malade
'
Imaginaire.']
Saint-Saens has been an extensive traveller.
He has been in Russia, Spain, Portugal, Africa,
etc., besides paying repeated visits to Germany,
Austria, and England, so that he may be truly
said to have acquired a European reputation.
His fame mainly rests on his instrumental
music, and on his masterly and effective manner
of dealing with the orchestra. He is an excellent
contrapuntist, shines in the construction
of his orchestral pieces, has a quick ear for
pioturesqueness of detail, and has written
enough fine music to procure him an unique
position among French composers. He has
very great power of combination, and of seizing
instantaneously all the latent capacities of a
given theme, both in the way of melody and
harmony.
[Saint-Saens is a consummate master of composition,
and no one possesses a more profound
knowledge than he does of the secrets and resources
of the art ; but the creative faculty does
not keep pace with the technical skill of the
workman. His incomparable talent for orchestration
enables him to give relief to ideas
which would otherwise be crude and mediocre
in themselves ; and it is this talent which
makes him the one French musician most fitted
to compete with the classic masters of the
Symphony. His weakness consbts not only
in the inequality of his inspiration, but also in
the indecision of his artistic principles ; this is
shown in all his compositions, and it is this
which leads him to place excellent and objectionable
passages in juxtaposition. For the
same reason his works are on the one hand not
frivolous enough to become popular in the widest
sense, nor on the other do they take hold of the
public by that sincerity and warmth of feeling
which is so convincing. Saint-Saens, who was
made a knight of the Legion d'honneur in 1867,
and an officer of the same in July 1884, is
always the same incomparable pianist. It would
even seem that during the last twenty years his
talent in this direction had increased, and such
receptions as he has received at the Conservatoire,
where he played Beethoven's Choral Fantasia,
in Russia, on the occasion of his tour in
1887 with Taffanel, Turban, and Gillet, and in
London, on many occasions, as in 1871, 1874,
1879, prove him to be one of the most remarkable
and earnest pianoforte players of the day.
On June 13, 1892, he received the honorary
degree of Mus.D. from the University of Cambridge,
where he played his 'Africa ' at a concert
of the Cambridge University Musical Society
on the previous day. On June 2, 1896, the
fiftieth anniversary of his first appearance in
public was celebrated in Paris.
In addition to his other claims to distinction,
Saint-Saens is a first-rate musical critic, and has
contributed articles to La Jienaissanee, L'Esta/ette,
and Le Voltaire, the best of which
were published in 1885, under the title of Harmonie
et Milodie (Paris: Calmann Levy, 1885),
with an introduction and appendix explaining
the change which his views have undergone in
relation to Richard Wagner. An ' Essai sur les
lyres et cithare antique' appeared in 1902, and
'Portraits et Souvenirs' in 1903.] He was
elected member of the Institute, vice Henri
Reber, Feb. 19, 1881.
. LIST OF SAINT-SaSNS'S COMPOSITIONS
Op.
1. Three pieces for harmoDium.
2. Firat Symphony, Eb (published ISSS).
3. FF, solos, BsgateUes.
4. Mass for soli, choir, organ, and orchestra.
6. Tantum ergo for 8-part choir with organ.
6. Taiantelie for finte, clarinet, and ordb.
7. Bhapaodies on Breton themes for organ.
8. Six duets for harmonium and pf.
% Benediction nuptiale, for organ,
10. Scena from Horace.
11. Duettino in O, for pf.
12. Oratorio de Noiil.
13. Elevation for harmonium.
14. Quintet, A minor, for pf. and strings.
15. Serenade for pf., organ, Tin., and viola or Tcello.
16. Suite for pf. and Tcello.
17. First pf. concerto in D.
18. Trio, pf. and strings in F,
19. Les Noces de From4th£e, cantata.
20. First violin concerto, A minor.
21. First Mazurka for pf.
22. Second pf. concerto, Q minor.
23. Gavotte for pf
24. Second Mazurka for pf.
' 25. March for pf., Orient et Occident,' 4 hands.
26. MtSlodies Persanes for voice.
27. Somauce for pf., organ, and violin.
28. Introduction and Rondo capriccioso for violin and oral].
29. Third pf. concerto, Bb.
30. La Princesse Jaune, opera.
31. Le Bouet d'Omphale. symphonic poem.
32. Sonata in C minor, pf. and vcello.
33. ViolonceUo concerto. A minor.
34. Marche hdrolque for orchestra. '
35. Variations for two pfs. on a theme of Beethoven.
36. Romance, horn or vcello and orch. in F-.
37. Romance for flute or vln. in B flat.
38. Berceuse in B fiat, pf. and vln.
39. Phagton, symphonic poem.