Camille Saint-Saëns was born in Paris, France, on 9
October 1835. His father, a government clerk, died
three months after his birth. He was raised by his
mother, Clémence, with the assistance of her aunt,
Charlotte Masson, who moved in. Masson introduced
Saint-Saëns to the piano, and began giving him lessons
on the instrument. At about this time, age two,
Saint-Saëns was found to possess perfect pitch.
"Menuet et Valse" (Opus 56) is an excellent concert
work composed in 1878 for so...(+)
Camille Saint-Saëns was born in Paris, France, on 9
October 1835. His father, a government clerk, died
three months after his birth. He was raised by his
mother, Clémence, with the assistance of her aunt,
Charlotte Masson, who moved in. Masson introduced
Saint-Saëns to the piano, and began giving him lessons
on the instrument. At about this time, age two,
Saint-Saëns was found to possess perfect pitch.
"Menuet et Valse" (Opus 56) is an excellent concert
work composed in 1878 for solo piano. In this the
composer has very cleverly joined a minuet of classical
style to a brilliant modern waltz.
Although originally written for Piano, I adapted this
minuet to a non-standard Woodwind quartet (Flute, Oboe,
Basoon and Contrabasoon) to cover the entire range of
the modern piano as well as highlight the delicate
tempo and pitch depth.