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 Concert...(+)
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 Bourée from 6 Études pour la
Main Gauche (Op. 135 No. 4) for Double-Reed Trio (Oboe,
English Horn & Bassoon).
