Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) was a master craftsman who had an unerring musical sense and an astonishing ability to produce masterpiece after masterpiece. He left a substantial volume of work including thirteen operas (of which Samson et Dalila is considered one of the greatest works of the French lyric stage), ten concertos (including the delightful Carnival of the Animals for two pianos and orchestra), seven symphonies, numerous choral works, over a hundred songs, symphonic poems, piano compositions and chamber sonatas for violin, cello, clarinet, oboe and bassoon. He also wrote works for military band, cadenzas to piano concertos of Mozart and Beethoven, and transcribed and arranged numerous works by Bach, Gluck, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Mozart and others. For some reason Bach’s Bourrée, from Partita No.1 in B minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1002, in the Saint-Saëns piano transcription has always been a favourite work of Russian piano teachers and Russian pianists.
