Camille Saint-Saëns was a man of wide culture, well versed in literature, the arts and scientific developments. He was precocious and gifted in astronomy, biology, mathematics and ancient philosophy and literature. As a child, he wrote his first piano compositions at age three and at ten made his formal debut at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, playing Mozart and Beethoven piano concertos. In his youth, he was considered an innovator, but by the time he reached maturity, he had become a conservative pillar of the establishment, trying to maintain the classical tradition in France and expressing open disdain for the “new” trends in music, including the “malaise” of Wagnerism. His visceral dislike of Debussy made continuous headlines in the tabloid press. As a performer – he premiered his five piano concertos–his technique was elegant and effortless. But neither his compositions nor his playing were pinnacles of emotion. Berlioz noted that Saint-Saëns “...knows everything but lacks inexperience.”

In 1872, Saint-Saëns received a large bequest from the estate of the director of the French Post Office, who felt that a gifted composer should not have to work to supplement his income. Despite his financial security, he was a consummate craftsman and a compulsive worker. “I produce music the way an apple tree produces apples.” Although he was a proponent of “art for art's sake,” his views on expression and passion in art conflicted with the prevailing Romanticism. While his music was often perceived as passé, he was open to original ideas that conformed to his aesthetic. He was the first composer to write an original film score in 1908 for L’assassinat du Duc de Guise (The assassination of the Duke of Guise), and the Fifth Piano Concerto freely incorporates non-Western musical idioms.

The combined income from his bequest, together with his publications and performance fees allowed Saint-Saëns to indulge a passion for travel. Tours for both work and pleasure took him to Brazil, the United States, Russia, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). But most of his trips were to North Africa, primarily in the French colonies of Algeria and Morocco. He composed his piano concerto No. 5 in 1896 in Luxor, Egypt and premiered it to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of his debut at the Salle Pleyel in 1846. While the title, “Egyptian,” is traditionally appended to the concerto because of the country of its birth, it is not Saint-Saëns’ own. Rather, the composer referred to the Concerto as a sea voyage, and one hears in it the echoes of the ethnic music of Spain, the Far East and North Africa.

From a pianistic point of view, Saint-Saëns pulled out all the stops and was clearly more interested in virtuosic display than in thematic development. After only a few introductory notes from the orchestra, the piano jumps in with the Concerto’s first theme followed by a couple of short motives, one resembling a Baroque fanfare, the other a rising sequence, designed to herald the pianist's technical wizardry.

Saint-Saëns’ world cruise begins in the exotic Andante second movement, a cadenza-like introduction using authentic North African modes evoking an Algerian market. There follows a Spanish folksong that concludes with a haunting oboe solo. Saint-Saëns then “travels” to Bali with a pentatonic tune accented with a gong in imitation of the Balinese gamelan. While he never visited Bali, Balinese music was all the rage at the Paris Expos.

The energetic Finale returns ”home” in a classic sonata form. Although Saint-Saëns omits the customary formal cadenza, the pianist has ample opportunity for virtuosic display in the development of this movement.

Program notes by:
Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn
Wordpros@mindspring.com
www.wordprosmusic.com