“I like good company, but I like hard work still better.” Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Saint-Saëns was an inexhaustible French pianist, organist and composer, responsible for the infamous The Carnival of Animals. Browse our sheet music and scores, and have a carnival with Camille today!
Camille Saint-Saëns was born in Paris on October the 9th, 1835, and since his father died a few months later, he was raised by his mother and his great-aunt, who was a pianist. Camille’s musical talents were clear from an early age, he took his first piano lessons with his great aunt, and he fell in love with the organ at the very first note. With composition, he also started young, and was only 15 years old when he completed his first symphony (Symphony in A major), which is now very rarely performed.
After completing his studies in piano, organ and composition at the Paris Conservatoire, he first worked as an organist, but he gave up his position in 1877, to pursue his love of composition.
As he became increasingly famous, he took more trips within Europe, and to America, as well as to Africa, and it was on this final trip that he died on December 16, 1921 in Algiers, at the age of 86.
Only a few pieces from Camille Saint-Saëns’ great work have made it into the modern concert and stage repertoire. About half of his work is made up of virtually forgotten vocal pieces, such as cantatas, songs with piano, and choral works. However, The Christmas Oratorio and his opera Samson and Dalilah are extremely popular today.
Among his instrumental works, the Piano Concertos by Saint-Saëns and the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto are regularly featured in the modern concert repertoire. The Saint-Saëns Piano Works and the Organ Works by Saint-Saëns, which cover all difficulty levels, are often used by musicians as part of their professional training and development. A work of note is the Symphony No.3 by Saint-Saëns. In this ’organ symphony’, the composer uses the ’queen of instruments’ to create a special timbre within the orchestra.
One of the most famous works by Camille Saint-Saëns is the The Carnival of Animals, with which he enjoyed great success, just a few years before his death.
At first, Saint-Saëns’ musical ideas were regarded as ’revolutionary’, and were initially very successful abroad, before gaining popularity at home. It was not, however, until the late 1880s, that he was considered an established force within the classic music world. At the turn of the century, a new musical avant-garde arrived, with Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky, and Saint-Saëns was increasingly over-looked, and his fame dwindled, as his music was now widely considered ’old-fashioned’.
Throughout his life, Saint-Saëns was an advocate for French traditional and national music, and along with César Franck, he was co-founder of the ’Société Nationale de Musique’, which offered young French composers a pathway into the music world. He also spend his life fighting against the German influence on French music, especially that of Richard Wagner and Arnold Schönberg.
Violine & Klavier
for: Violin, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 593759
for: Guitar & Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1243589
for: Descant (soprano) recorder, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246554
for: Horn (F), organ [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246536
for: Euphonium, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246516
for: Euphonium, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246515
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1534668
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1316254
for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1313068
for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1313042
für Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1344529
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 1383139
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1200799
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1382096
for: Klarinettenchor
Score, Parts
Item no.: 995080
Der Schwan
for: Cello, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 209244
for: Cello [viola], piano
Item no.: 322198
für Viola und Klavier (1.-5. Lage)
for: Viola, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 636314
for: Bassoon, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 664163
Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Orchestra
Taschenpartitur
Item no.: 1356797
for: Cello
Book
Item no.: 938030
for: Viola
Music score
Item no.: 937710
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1203633
Opera in three acts
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 775669
for: Bass trombone, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1303188
for: Organ
Item no.: 139455
for: Cello, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 564717
for: 4 soloists (SATB), mixed choir (SATB), 1-2 organs
Score
Item no.: 682192
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 862297
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 1337886
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1126868
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 280000
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 2661
for: Organ
Music score (spiral binding)
Item no.: 618636
for string quartet
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 681629
for: Cello, organ
Score, part (pdf download)
Item no.: 1787
Bearbeitung für zwei Organisten
von Alexander Därr
for: Organ 4 hands
2 music scores
Item no.: 1689887
for: Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 896418
Audio-CD
Item no.: 179174
for: Viola, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 377722
for: Piano 4 hands
Score
Item no.: 922969
for: Voice, piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 922691
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 601767
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 197933
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 274940
for: Trio
Score
Item no.: 872689
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 889677