The Best of Saint-Saëns

These recordings are available for sync licensing in web video productions, corporate videos, films, ads and music compilations. For further information and licensing please contact [email protected]. ☕ If you like what we do and would like to support us, you can now buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/halidonmusic. Donations will go towards keeping the YouTube channel going and funding new recording sessions with our amazing team of artists. Thank you! 🙏 Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) was a French composer, pianist, and organist—one of the most prolific and technically accomplished musicians of the Romantic era, celebrated for bridging the classical tradition with a distinctly French sensibility. Born in Paris, he showed exceptional musical gifts from infancy, performing publicly as a pianist at age ten. He became organist at the Madeleine in 1857 and was a founding figure of the Société Nationale de Musique (1871), a key institution in the revival of French instrumental music. A close friend of Liszt and an admirer of Bach and Handel, he was at once a guardian of tradition and a bold formal experimenter. His output spans virtually every genre: the opera Samson et Dalila (1877) stands as his dramatic masterpiece, while the Organ Symphony (No. 3, 1886) remains his most celebrated orchestral achievement. His piano and violin concertos are cornerstones of the Romantic repertoire, and the witty Carnival of the Animals (1886)—kept private during his lifetime—became one of the most beloved orchestral suites ever written. A tireless traveler, he spent extended periods in Algeria, Egypt, and the Canary Islands, and his music occasionally reflects these encounters with non-European soundscapes. He remained active as a performer and composer until the very end, dying in Algiers in December 1921. Tracklist: 00:00:00 Danse macabre (Arr. for String Quintet by Fabien Touchard) Smoking Joséphine Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33: 00:07:39 I. Allegro non troppo 00:13:02 II. Allegretto con moto 00:18:03 III. A Little Slower Anne Gastinel, Orchestre National de Lyon, Emmanuel Krivine 00:26:30 The Carnival of the Animals: The Swan Christian-Pierre La Marca, Nathanaël Gouin, Members of the Orchestre de Paris Suite Algérienne: 00:29:33 I. Prelude. A View of Algiers 00:33:20 II. Moorish Rhapsody 00:39:04 III. An Evening Dream at Bilda 00:44:55 IV. French Military March Orchestre philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, David Robertson Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Major: 00:49:25 I. Allegro 00:53:58 II. Andante Espressivo 00:56:13 III. Allegro Geneviève Laurenceau, Benjamin Levy, Orchestre de Picardie 01:01:40 Andromaque Overture Rapsodie Bretonne: 01:09:56 I. Allegretto 01:13:58 II. Andantino – Allegro quasi Presto – Andantino – Allegretto Orchestre philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, David Robertson 01:20:53 Romance Geneviève Laurenceau, Benjamin Levy, Orchestre de Picardie Suite in D Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 16: 01:26:19 I. Prelude. Moderato assai 01:28:09 II. Serenade. Andantino 01:30:58 III. Scherzo. Allegro non troppo 01:35:16 IV. Romance. Molto adagio 01:41:50 V. Finale. Presto non troppo Christoph Henkel, Huseyin Sermet Piano Quartet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 41: 01:47:03 I. Allegretto 01:54:41 II. Andante maestoso ma con moto 02:01:29 III. Poco allegro più tosto moderato 02:07:52 IV. Allegro Huseyin Sermet, Régis Pasquier, Bruno Pasquier, Roland Pidoux 02:17:03 Javotte, fantaisie pour orchestre Orchestre philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, David Robertson Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Minor: 02:37:54 ia. Allegro Agitato 02:44:54 ib. Adagio 02:50:24 iia. Allegretto Moderato 02:54:20 iib. Allegro Molto Geneviève Laurenceau, David Bismuth Piano Quartet No. 2 in B-flat Major: 03:00:21 I. Allegretto 03:07:59 II. Andante Maestoso ma con moto 03:14:46 III. Poco Allegro piu’ tosto moderato 03:21:09 IV. Allegro Régis Pasquier, Bruno Pasquier, Roland Pidoux, Huseyin Sermet © All rights reserved, courtesy of Naïve Records. --- Thank you so much for watching this video from the Halidon Music channel, we hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to share it and subscribe to our channel 🤗 #ClassicalMusic #SaintSaëns #RomanticMusic #FrenchClassical #CarnivalOfTheAnimals #RomanticEra