Scholarly Saint-Saens

Musical Times, Autumn 2002 by Simeone, Nigel

Review-article

NIGEL SIMEONE welcomes the entry of the 19th-century French maitre into the musicological pantheon

Camille Saint-Saens 1835-1921: a thematic catalogue of his complete works, volume 1: the instrumental works Sabina Teller Ratner Oxford UP (Oxford & New York, 2002); xxvii, 628pp; L120. ISBN 0 19 816320 7.

Camille Saint-Saens: Violoncellokonzert Nr.1, a-moll, Opus 33

Piano Reduction Edited by Peter Jost Piano reduction after Saint-Saens's original by Johannes Umbreit Fingering by David Geringas

Henle, HN 711, EUR18.

Camille Saint-Saens: Violinkonzert Nr.3, h-moll, Opus 61 Piano Reduction Edited by Peter Jost Piano reduction after Saint-Sams's original by Johannes Umbreit Fingering by Ernst Schliephake Henle, HN 712, EUR21.

Camille Saint-Saens: Elefant, aus Der Karnieval der Tiere, far Kontrabass and Klavier

Edited by Tobias Glockler

Henle, HN 730, EUR5.

CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS (1835-1921) was nothing if not prolific, but the publication of a three-volume thematic catalogue of his works may, at first glance, seem like information overload. However, his was an extraordinary creative life, and this magnificent first volume of a definitive thematic catalogue provides the reader with a splendid array of sources, including numerous letters, reviews and other documents, which place the composer's works (including several of his most famous pieces) in a richly detailed context unmatched by any earlier study of the composer. The remaining two volumes, devoted to dramatic works (by Sabina Teller Ratner) and vocal works (by Yves Gerard) will appear in due course.

With such a close examination of a large musical output, a multi-volume work was inevitable. The decision to divide the works into genres was a sensible one, and the division has been done with a light touch: thus `Chamber Music' covers everything from duos to Le carnaval des animaux, which requires a minimum of eleven players. This helpfully avoid the problem found in some catalogues of over-classification (duos, then trios, then quartets, and so on). The present catalogue is divided up as follows: Section I covers piano music (solo works, then duets and works for two pianos), while Section II deals with pieces for organ, harmonium and harp. Section III deals with chamber music and Section IV with a genre for which Saint-Saens's contribution is likely to be news to many readers: his five works for military band, including such delights as the Pas redouble op.86 written for the Societe des Touristes du Midi in 1887, and Sur les bords du Nil op.125, composed in 1908 and dedicated to Abbas Hilmi Pasha, Khedive of Egypt. Orchestral works are split into two sections: those which are purely for orchestra (Section V) and those with solo instruments (Section VI). This might seem a little fussy, but given the quantity of work, it is a useful subdivision. The sheer variety of Saint-Saens's pieces for solo instruments and orchestra is something to marvel at, with pieces for clarinet, horn (no fewer than three works), violin and cello duet (Le muse et le poete op. 132), harp, and organ, as well as more familiar works for solo violin, cello and piano. Incidentally, the delightful Wedding cake appears - as it should - under `Chamber Music' even though it is often performed by piano with string orchestra accompaniment rather than the solo strings which were used at most early performances. Curiously, the first and last works in this category involve the flute: the Tarentelle op.6 for flute, clarinet and orchestra, composed in 1857, and the all-but-unknown Odelette op.162 for flute and orchestra, written in Algeria in 1920 and enthusiastically taken up by some distinguished players at the time (not least by Philippe Gaubert, who told Saint-Saens that he would play it to all his pupils), but which seems to have lapsed into obscurity. It is a charming piece, and performers and concert-planners should note that it is helpfully and economically scored for an orchestra consisting of just two oboes, two bassoons and strings. The last two sections of this volume (Sections VII and VIII) are devoted to `Transcriptions of works by other composers' and 'Cadenzas' - no fewer than fifteen of them, for several Mozart piano concertos, the first three Beethoven piano concertos, and one for the Beethoven Violin Concerto. The appendices include every index one could wish for (alphabetical, by opus number and chronologically by date of composition and by date of publication), dedicatees, transcribers and publishers of first and early editions.

After the work's title (with opus number where appropriate) and thematic incipit(s), of which Ratner provides at least one for each movement of multi-movement works, the organisation of each entry follows the same pattern, including all or most of the following headings: date of composition; dedication; instrumentation; autograph manuscripts (and other mss. where these are relevant); publication, including full details of title pages and dates from DepOt legal copies; transcriptions (by Saint-Saens and by others); first performance; significant later performances; correspondence; literature. Only one thing is missing here which could, I think, have been useful: approximate durations are necessarily a bit roughand-ready, but an indication of whether a piece lasts five, fifteen or fifty-five minutes is a helpful guide for anyone involved in concert-planning, as well as for those who are simply curious to discover the dimensions of a particular work.