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CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Concerto No. 1 in A minor for Cello & Orchestra, Op. 33

The defeat of France at the hands of Prussia in 1871 shocked the country’s pride and spurred a revival of French arts and letters. One of the results was the founding by Camille Saint-Saëns and his colleagues of the Société Nationale de Musique, whose motto and purpose was “Ars Gallica.” (French art). One of its offshoots was the establishment of three newly energized competing symphony orchestras in Paris by three great conductors – Édouard Colonne, Jules-Étienne Pasdeloup and Charles Lamoureux – who urgently looked for new works by French composers.

Saint-Saëns composed the Cello Concerto in 1872 in response to this demand. It is in three continuous movements without pause, in the manner of the Cello Concerto by Robert Schumann. Unlike the standard classic concerto, Saint-Saëns’s Concerto opens with only a single orchestral chord, after which the soloist introduces the principal themes. The first one is an assertive and virtuosic melody that will be revisited throughout the Concerto as a unifying device. The cello also introduces the standard contrasting second theme. There is virtually no development section in this movement, merely a varied restatement of the themes in order. The second theme gradually softens the mood and the music glides into the second movement, an understated minuet in the orchestra. When the cello enters, it plays a counter-melody over the minuet and then a little waltz on its own. Once again, the end of the Minuet blends without pause into the Finale.

While many nineteenth-century works bring back the opening theme at the end as a way of providing closure and an arch-like structure, Saint-Saëns expands greatly on this architectural concept. The Finale, the longest of the movements, continues the development of the opening theme of the Concerto but also includes a new more expansive second theme, as well as a burst of new thematic material, and, of course, rapid scales, arpeggios and high harmonics that permit the soloist to indulge in virtuosic brilliance. The Concerto concludes with a coda, accelerating the tempo for a dramatic finish.

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Concerto No. 1 in A minor for Cello & Orchestra, Op. 33

The defeat of France at the hands of Prussia in 1871 shocked the country’s pride and spurred a revival of French arts and letters. One of the results was the founding by Camille Saint-Saëns and his colleagues of the Société Nationale de Musique, whose motto and purpose was “Ars Gallica.” (French art). One of its offshoots was the establishment of three newly energized competing symphony orchestras in Paris by three great conductors – Édouard Colonne, Jules-Étienne Pasdeloup and Charles Lamoureux – who urgently looked for new works by French composers.

Saint-Saëns composed the Cello Concerto in 1872 in response to this demand. It is in three continuous movements without pause, in the manner of the Cello Concerto by Robert Schumann. Unlike the standard classic concerto, Saint-Saëns’s Concerto opens with only a single orchestral chord, after which the soloist introduces the principal themes. The first one is an assertive and virtuosic melody that will be revisited throughout the Concerto as a unifying device. The cello also introduces the standard contrasting second theme. There is virtually no development section in this movement, merely a varied restatement of the themes in order. The second theme gradually softens the mood and the music glides into the second movement, an understated minuet in the orchestra. When the cello enters, it plays a counter-melody over the minuet and then a little waltz on its own. Once again, the end of the Minuet blends without pause into the Finale.

While many nineteenth-century works bring back the opening theme at the end as a way of providing closure and an arch-like structure, Saint-Saëns expands greatly on this architectural concept. The Finale, the longest of the movements, continues the development of the opening theme of the Concerto but also includes a new more expansive second theme, as well as a burst of new thematic material, and, of course, rapid scales, arpeggios and high harmonics that permit the soloist to indulge in virtuosic brilliance. The Concerto concludes with a coda, accelerating the tempo for a dramatic finish.