Saint-Saëns

Two of the bitchiest musical quotes I know are both directed at Saint-Saëns.  Ravel , on being told that the composer had continued to write music during the first world war said " if he had been making shell cases during the war it would have been better for music while Nadia Boulanger, the great French teacher is reported as having said Saint-Saëns knew his business admirably well. He only lacked what no one could give him.

Boulanger was essentially saying that Saint-Saëns was had technique but no inspiration.  I think that that is an extremely harsh verdict.

I think a lot of the criticism is actually about Saint-Saëns the man rather than the musician.  Boulanger and Saint-Saëns had a famous falling about over the 1908 Prix de Rome, where the judges , including Saint-Saëns did not award her first prize in the composition composition.  The composer did indeed seem to have had a talent for falling out with people and making musical enemies.  The story of him storming out of the first performances of The Rite of Spring because of the misuse of the bassoon is not quite correct (the incident was at the first concert performance, which, unlike the first stage performance, was very well received), but it does show something of his character.

One of the problems with Saint-Saëns is that he was active musically for such a long time that he got left behind by musical tastes.  Indeed he must have had one of the longest musical careers of all time.  He was born in 1835 and was already a major figure in French musical life by the 1840, counting Berlioz, Liszt and Berlioz.  He composed all through his long life - his final work was written in 1921, the year of his death.   In today's terms this would be equivalent to somebody still active who was born in the late 1920s and who had been heard playing the piano by Elgar.  

Among other incidents in a very full life Saint-Saëns should be remembered as the first major composer to write a score for a film - his 1908 music for The Assassination of the Duke of Guise.

While all of this is fascinating background it shouldn't get in the way of the music itself.  I know only a tiny fraction of the composer's large output (indeed I suspect that very few people have even  a reasonable knowledge of the repertoire) I do find myself turning to Saint-Saëns more and more.  I have a soft spot for the Organ Symphony - not least because I conducted a performance at university, but I have to admit that at times it is a bit old fashioned and creaky, but I am admiring the piano concerto more and more.  I'm beginning to get to know some of the chamber music - the wonderfully quirky septet with trumpet of course but also the piano quartet.  And there is always the carnival of the animals, which never fails to raise a smile.

What it is that attracts me to this music .  It is I think a combination of its fluency and charm.  Everything works and fits to together perfectly and the melodic invention is always first rate.  But perhaps more than anything there is a sense of communication - this is not inward facing - it is there to be heard and enjoyed.  Listen to the second movement of the second piano concerto for a real sense of exuberant fun in the tradition of a Mendelssohn Scherzo, or the poise and control of the beginning of the piano quartet.

Of course there are times when one want music to plumb the emotional or intellectual depths and perhaps Saint-Saëns is not the idea companion for such  journeys. But when you want a slightly gentler and less angst ridden journey but still of the highest quality give Saint-Saëns a chance.