Camille Saint-Saëns was something of an anomaly among
French composers of the nineteenth century in that he
wrote in virtually all genres, including opera,
symphonies, concertos, songs, sacred and secular choral
music, solo piano, and chamber music. He was generally
not a pioneer, though he did help to revive some
earlier and largely forgotten dance forms, like the
bourée and gavotte. He was a conservative who wrote
many popular scores scattered throughout the various
genres: the Piano Concerto No. 2, Symphony No. 3
("Organ"), the symphonic poem Danse macabre, the opera
Samson et Dalila, and probably his most widely
performed work, The Carnival of The Animals. While he
remained a composer closely tied to tradition and
traditional forms in his later years, he did develop a
more arid style, less colorful and, in the end, less
appealing. He was also a poet and playwright of some
distinction.
The left-hand Op 135 Études are distinctive and in a
world removed from the other two sets of Études.
Caroline de Serres née Montigny-Rémaury was
Saint-Saëns’ duet partner and the dedicatee of his
‘waltz-caprice’ Wedding Cake, Op 76, a gift for her
second wedding in 1886. In 1912 her right hand was
operated on and she requested a set of studies for her
left hand alone. Robert Casadesus, in conversation with
Dean Elder, tells a different story. He was under the
impression that Saint-Saëns had written the Études for
the best students of his good friend Louis Diémer, the
dedicatee of Franck’s Variations symphoniques. Because
Casadesus was the teacher’s pet (chou chou), Diémer
gave him the Bourrée, considered the best piece of the
set. He played it for Saint-Saëns himself. One wonders
how Saint-Saëns reacted! That grande-dame of French
playing, Jeanne-Marie Darré, who played all five
Saint-Saëns Concertos in one evening in 1926, described
Saint-Saëns as “very boorish, you know, not amiable”.
For Opus 135 Saint-Saëns becomes neo-Classical,
recreating old dance forms from harpsichord suites,
inspired by his lifelong interest in the works of
Couperin and Rameau. These are unpretentious pieces,
but beautifully textured and intelligently designed.
They were avidly studied by Ravel before he wrote his
Concerto pour la main gauche.
The Prélude, in G major, gently contrasts arpeggiated
chords and sustained melodic fragments. The Alla fuga
continues in the same key. Thankfully, its strutting
subject is only taken up by one other voice, but the
two attain a stretto on the final page and achieve
quite a lot of contrast on their ‘flight’. The Moto
perpetuo which follows is marked ‘softly and calmly,
without speed and very evenly’. It would be easier to
play faster—but therein lies the challenge! Its gentle
ups and downs innocently explore different keys and
registers, reaching a forte climax before evaporating.
Then to the vigorous Bourrée with its middle section a
forty-eight-bar G pedal point! The Élégie is decked in
entirely different garb from the other five pieces. Its
probing Romantic phrases contrast curiously with its
surroundings. The second section does recall the
opening Prélude with its arpeggiated chords, but there
the connections end. It must have been this piece which
Ravel found so helpful in 1929. It is quite lovely. The
Gigue, though, provides a predictably presto
conclusion, with occasional rhythmic displacements for
spark and a witty descent at the end
Source: Allmusic
(https://www.allmusic.com/composition/%C3tudes-6-for-pi
ano-op-52-mc0002358821).
Although originally composed for piano, I created this
interpretation of the Moto Perpetuo from 6 Études pour
la Main Gauche (Op. 135 No. 3) for Concert (Pedal)
Harp.
Download the sheet music here:
https://musescore.com/user/13216/scores/5667793
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