Saint-Saëns: Symphonies Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège & Jean-Jacques Kantorow

• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921): Symphony in A Major, R. 159:
• 1 Saint-Saëns: Symphony in A Major, R. 159: I. Poco adagio - Allegro vivace 06:50
• 2 Saint-Saëns: Symphony in A Major, R. 159: II. Larghetto 07:55
• 3 Saint-Saëns: Symphony in A Major, R. 159: III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace 03:24
• 4 Saint-Saëns: Symphony in A Major, R. 159: IV. Finale. Allegro molto - Presto 05:18
• Symphony No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 2, R. 161:
• 5 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 2, R. 161: I. Adagio - Allegro 08:38
• 6 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 2, R. 161: II. Marche-Scherzo. Allegretto scherzando 04:16
• 7 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 2, R. 161: III. Adagio 09:50
• 8 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 2, R. 161: IV. Finale. Allegro maestoso 07:07
• Symphony No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 55:
• 9 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 55: I. Allegro marcato - Allegro appassionato 06:39
• 10 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 55: II. Adagio 03:31
• 11 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 55: III. Scherzo. Presto 03:53
• 12 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 55: IV. Prestissimo 06:37
• Total Runtime 01:13:58

Info for Saint-Saëns: Symphonies

Prodigiously gifted, Camille Saint-Saëns entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1848, at the age of 13. There he discovered the symphonies of the great German and Austrian composers and soon began to try his own hand at the genre. The Symphony in A major stems from this period and although it was most likely never performed in his lifetime it demonstrates his exceptional talent to the full. Only a couple of years later, in 1853, Saint-Saëns submitted his second attempt at writing a symphony to one of the capital’s concert societies. Praised by Berlioz and Gounod, the Symphony No.?1 in E flat major was accepted for performance and published shortly afterwards as the composer’s opus 2. Classical in form, it is an example of Saint-Saëns’ typical clarity, with the lyricism that would later become a hallmark of his music coming to the fore in the two central movements. By the late 1850s, despite his youth, Saint-Saëns was already well-established: in addition to his activity as a virtuoso pianist, he had been named organist of La Madeleine in Paris. He composed his Symphony No. 2 in A minor quickly: from July to September 1859. The orchestration is transparent, and the first movement unusually features a fugue for three voices. Concise and constantly inventive, the work moves away from the Viennese models Saint-Saëns admired so much, with a finale reminiscent of the tarantella in Mendelssohn’s ‘Italian’ Symphony. The present album is the first of two dedicated to the symphonies of Saint-Saëns and recorded by the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and Jean-Jacques Kantorow to commemorate the centenary of the composer’s death.

Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liege
Jean-Jacques Kantorow, conductor

No biography found.

Booklet for Saint-Saëns: Symphonies