Camille Saint-Saens

Paris-born Charles Camille Saint-Saëns was a child prodigy, composing his first piece for piano at the age of three. He was a private student of Gounod and entered the Paris Conservatory at age 13. Saint-Saëns had total recall; any book he read or tune he heard was forever committed to his memory.

Curiously, after 1890, Saint-Saëns' music was regarded with some condescension in his homeland, while in England and the United States he was hailed as France's greatest living composer well into the twentieth century. Saint-Saëns experienced an especially triumphant concert tour when he visited the U.S. in 1915. In the last two decades of his life, he remained attached to his dogs and was largely a loner. He died in Algeria on December 16, 1921.

Although this piece was originally written for Chorus (SATB) & Organ, I created this arrangement for Acoustic Piano & Clarinet Quartet (3 Bb Clarinets & Bass Clarinet).