Camille Saint-Saëns

Born: October 9, 1835, in Paris, France
Died: December 16, 1921, in Algiers, Algeria

Concerto No. 1 in A Minor for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 33

• Composed: 1872
  
• Premiere: January 19, 1873 at the Paris Conservatoire, Auguste Tolbecque (for whom the work was written), cello 
• CSO Notable Performances: 
  • First: February 1902, Frank Van der Stucken conducting; M. Jean Gérardy, cello
  • Most Recent: October 2004, Paavo Järvi conducting, Alisa Weilerstein, cello
• Instrumentation: solo cello, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings
• Duration: approx. 19 minutes

Camille Saint-Saëns was a pioneer of French music who led a long and vibrant life as a musician, composer and intellectual. Like Mozart and Mendelssohn before him, he was a child prodigy, composing by age 3 and performing piano recitals by age 10. Alongside his early career as a soloist, he was organist at the prestigious Church of the Madeleine in Paris, where he was renowned for his improvisational skills. When it came to music, his productivity was boundless. He once remarked, “I compose music as a tree produces apples.” He also loved to write articles about science and his extensive travels abroad. By the time Saint-Saëns died, the music world had made drastic shifts into modernity. Stravinsky’s scandalous ballet The Rite of Spring was making waves in Paris and the classicism of Saint-Saëns’ style was fading from fashion. Yet his music endures to this day for its beauty and clarity; his Carnival of the Animals and symphonic poem Danse macabre are some of the most recognizable works in the classical repertoire.  

Saint-Saëns was a great admirer of the baroque era, and his performances of works by J.S. Bach and Handel, as well as French composers such as Rameau and Lully, revived these artists in the public eye. He was also a staunch supporter of modern French composers, and, in 1871, he established the Société nationale de musique, an organization devoted solely to the performance of new French music. As the 19th century neared its end and the extravagant modernism of Wagner’s operas took most of Europe by storm, Saint-Saëns’ star dimmed somewhat, as he was not swept up by the Germanic trends and instead stayed true to his more conservative classical style. The French writer Romain Rolland remarked on Saint-Saëns’ status in 1908 saying, “Compared with the restless and troubled art of today, his music strikes us by its calm, its tranquil harmonies, its velvety modulations, its crystal clearness, its smooth and flowing style, and an elegance that cannot be put into words. Even his classic coldness does us good by its reaction against the exaggerations, sincere as they are, of the new school.” 

Shortly before Saint-Saëns began work on his First Cello Concerto, his great-aunt Charlotte died at the age of 91, sending him into a deep period of grief. He never knew his father, who died when Saint-Saëns was less than a year old, and Charlotte had helped his widowed mother to raise the young boy. It was Charlotte who introduced him to the piano, gave him his first lessons and realized his innate talent. Stephen Studd, a Saint-Saëns biographer, notes that his interest in the cello during this time could be related to the passing of his great-aunt. Studd writes: “His feelings for the cello, with its deep, dark tone and capacity for both dignified and impassioned utterance, was now rekindled by the melancholy that set in after his bereavement.”  

Saint-Saëns wrote his First Cello Concerto in 1872, at age 37, for his close friend Auguste Tolbecque, who premiered the work on January 19, 1873 at the Paris Conservatoire. A review of the performance appeared in the Revue et gazette musicale de Paris the following day, noting that “the Cello Concerto seems to us to be a beautiful and good work of excellent sentiment and perfect cohesiveness, and as usual the form is of greatest interest.” Reports also praised the significant role of the orchestra as not merely an accompaniment to the soloist but an integral part of the work. The overall charm and vitality of this concerto led to its widespread popularity and helped to establish Saint-Saëns within the revered musical circles of Paris. 

Although the overall form is a standard three-movement fast-slow-fast structure, Saint-Saëns weaves each section together without breaks to create a work of seamless continuity. After a forceful and shocking opening chord from the orchestra, the cello enters immediately with a rush of notes cascading down to the lowest register of the instrument. A sense of urgency seems to propel the cello as it repeats the gesture four times, increasing in intensity as it goes. The woodwinds take over the theme, followed by the violins. A second theme, introduced by the soloist, offers a contrast with its yearning, sustained melody accompanied by chordal strings in the orchestra.  

The energy quickly returns with virtuosic flourishes from the soloist before the woodwinds signal a shift in mood with a soft chord that leads to a major key. Elements from the opening theme appear, this time with lighthearted and playful interjections from across the orchestra. A reprise of the gentler second theme fades into a pause before the onset of the slow movement.  

For this middle section, Saint-Saëns travels back in time with a muted minuet that recalls an 18th-century ballroom with its courtly rituals. The cello begins on a melancholy note before merging with the more spirited formality of the orchestral dance. A short cadenza veers into chromaticism—a reminder of modern romanticism amid the baroque atmosphere—before the quaint minuet returns in the woodwinds. This entire slow section seems to evoke the memory of his great-aunt Charlotte and her love and connection for this music from her childhood.  

After a closing phrase from the cello marks the conclusion of the middle movement, the oboe enters quietly, beginning the final movement with the return of the concerto’s very first motive. The cello introduces a new lamenting theme made up of elements from the minuet. The somber tone soon transforms into one of virtuosic energy and quick passagework. In a moment of exquisite beauty, the cello recalls the lamenting theme and rises to a high note as the woodwinds follow with an ethereal accompaniment. The momentum is soon regained with another outburst of virtuosity. The concerto ends in a powerful finale reminiscent of the opening movement, with brilliant flourishes from the soloist. 

—Catherine Case