Like many prominent French composers, he failed to win the Prix de Rome. In many ways, Saint-Saens was a “Renaissance man,” in that he was versed in and wrote widely on the natural sciences, mathematics, archeology, geology, literature, philosophy, and history. He enjoyed enough success as a performer and composer for Napoleon III to keep him out of the Franco-Prussian War, though the Paris Commune drove him to London for a few months. He also served as organist in several churches, including La Madeleine (1857 to 1877) where Liszt heard him and pronounced him the greatest organist in the world. 2 (1859).įrom 1861 to 1865, Saint-Saens was a professor of piano at the Ecole Niedermeyer where one of his students, Gabriel Faure, became his best friend. His Symphony in A appeared in 1850, the first of three numbered symphonies in 1853, the Piano Quintet and Symphony Urbs Roma (both 1856), Piano Concerto No. Enrolling at the Paris Conservatory at thirteen, he studied organ under Francois Benoist and composition with Fromental Halevy. For an encore, he offered to play any Beethoven sonata from memory. At ten, he played a recital in Paris from memory, including Beethoven and Mozart concertos. He wrote his first piece at age four, accompanied a Beethoven violin sonata at five, and at seven, studied composition with Pierre Maleden and piano with Camille-Marie Stamaty. Born in Paris, French composer Camille Saint-Saens‛s (1835-1921) father died soon after, so he was raised by his mother and her aunt, who gave the boy piano lessons.
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