Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns first published organ
work, the Fantasie in E flat major, has proved to be
his most popular. The composer first played it in
December 1857 at the inauguration of the newly rebuilt
organ of Saint-Merri in Paris, where he had been
appointed organist in 1853.
For income, Saint-Saëns played the organ at various
churches in Paris, with his first appointment being at
the Saint-Merri in the Beaubourg area. This piece is
dedicated to Georges Schmidt, then organist...(+)
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns first published organ
work, the Fantasie in E flat major, has proved to be
his most popular. The composer first played it in
December 1857 at the inauguration of the newly rebuilt
organ of Saint-Merri in Paris, where he had been
appointed organist in 1853.
For income, Saint-Saëns played the organ at various
churches in Paris, with his first appointment being at
the Saint-Merri in the Beaubourg area. This piece is
dedicated to Georges Schmidt, then organist of Saint
Sulpice.
Lasting seven minutes or so, the Fantasie is cast in
two parts, with the first marked Con moto. It is both
dreamy and stately, the writing masterly in its deft
way of alternating chords on two manuals. Though the
tempo indication is lively and the music fairly
animated, the mood is relaxed and the sonorities
delicate, with much of the writing in the upper ranges
of the manuals. When the second part begins (Allegro di
molto e con fuoco - literally "quickly with fire"), the
mood changes abruptly: the organ suddenly adopts the
"fiery" character suggested by the marking, but also
conveys a grandly epic manner. The music in the entire
latter half is a mixture of the triumphant and festive,
and features a colorfully virtuosic ending.
I transcribed this Pipe Organ arrangement directly from
the public domain archive.
SHEET MUSIC