Inspirational Quotes by Camille Saint-Saens (French Composer)

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921,) fully Charles Camille Saint-Saëns, was a French composer, pianist, organist, and music critic. His work is celebrated for his elegance of form and melodic invention rather than emotion.

Born in Paris, Saint-Saëns entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1848 and was a pupil of François Benoist and Fromental Halévy. He began his long and prolific career of composition with his prizewinning Ode à Sainte-Cécile (1852, ‘Ode to St Cecilia,’) followed shortly afterward by the 1st Symphony (1853.) He was a distinguished pianist, and won considerable renown as organist of the Madeleine in Paris 1858–77, also giving recitals in London, Russia, and Austria.

Although conservative as a composer, Saint-Saëns was a founder in 1871 of the Société Nationale de Musique, which was influential in encouraging works by young contemporary French composers. He wrote four further symphonies, 13 operas, including his best-known, Samson et Dalila (1877,) four symphonic poems, including Danse macabre (1874,) five concertos for piano, three for violin and two for cello, Carnaval des Animaux (1886, ‘Carnival of the Animals’) for two pianos and orchestra, church music, including his Messe solennelle (1855, ‘Solemn Mass,’) and chamber music and songs.

Saint-Saëns was a sound music critic and a writer of poetry, essays, and plays. His writings include Harmonie et mélodie (1885, ‘Harmony and Melody,’) Portraits et souvenirs (1899, ‘Portraits and Souvenirs,’) and Au courant de la vie (1914, ‘During a Lifetime.’)

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