R. MONTRASI - M. IANNONE
Saint Saens The Carnival of the Animals
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CAMILLE-SAINT SAËNS

Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) was a talented and precocious child, with interests not just for musica. At the age of ten he made his debut as a pianist.
For nearly twenty years he was organist at the Madeleine in
Paris. He also taught at the Ecole Niedermeyer, where among
his pupils he included Gabriel Faurè. In 1871 he founded,
together with Romain Bussine, the “Société Nationale de
Musique” to revive the artistic and cultural value of French
music. He made extensive toursin Europe, the United States,
South America and the Far East.

Saint-Saëns composed large quantities of music for a great
variety of instrumental and vocal combinations. He composed
thirteen Operas. The best known is "Samson et Dalila", a romantic
treatment of the biblical story.

Saint-Saëns wrote several piano concertos, violin concertos and cello concertos. Saint-Saëns was equally prolific in his provision of chamber music, with a series of duo sonatas, including two violin sonatas, two cello sonatas and a variety of other pieces. His popular zoological fantasy "Carnival of the Animals", for two pianos and orchestra was, in origin, written for the enjoyment of his friends. Saint-Saëns wrote a lot of pieces for piano: Variations, Studies, Scherzos, Rhapsodies, etc, and the important Variations on a Thema of Beethoven op.35 for two pianos.

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