“I like good company, but I like hard work still better.” Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Saint-Saëns was an inexhaustible French pianist, organist and composer, responsible for the infamous The Carnival of Animals. Browse our sheet music and scores, and have a carnival with Camille today!
Camille Saint-Saëns was born in Paris on October the 9th, 1835, and since his father died a few months later, he was raised by his mother and his great-aunt, who was a pianist. Camille’s musical talents were clear from an early age, he took his first piano lessons with his great aunt, and he fell in love with the organ at the very first note. With composition, he also started young, and was only 15 years old when he completed his first symphony (Symphony in A major), which is now very rarely performed.
After completing his studies in piano, organ and composition at the Paris Conservatoire, he first worked as an organist, but he gave up his position in 1877, to pursue his love of composition.
As he became increasingly famous, he took more trips within Europe, and to America, as well as to Africa, and it was on this final trip that he died on December 16, 1921 in Algiers, at the age of 86.
Only a few pieces from Camille Saint-Saëns’ great work have made it into the modern concert and stage repertoire. About half of his work is made up of virtually forgotten vocal pieces, such as cantatas, songs with piano, and choral works. However, The Christmas Oratorio and his opera Samson and Dalilah are extremely popular today.
Among his instrumental works, the Piano Concertos by Saint-Saëns and the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto are regularly featured in the modern concert repertoire. The Saint-Saëns Piano Works and the Organ Works by Saint-Saëns, which cover all difficulty levels, are often used by musicians as part of their professional training and development. A work of note is the Symphony No.3 by Saint-Saëns. In this ’organ symphony’, the composer uses the ’queen of instruments’ to create a special timbre within the orchestra.
One of the most famous works by Camille Saint-Saëns is the The Carnival of Animals, with which he enjoyed great success, just a few years before his death.
At first, Saint-Saëns’ musical ideas were regarded as ’revolutionary’, and were initially very successful abroad, before gaining popularity at home. It was not, however, until the late 1880s, that he was considered an established force within the classic music world. At the turn of the century, a new musical avant-garde arrived, with Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky, and Saint-Saëns was increasingly over-looked, and his fame dwindled, as his music was now widely considered ’old-fashioned’.
Throughout his life, Saint-Saëns was an advocate for French traditional and national music, and along with César Franck, he was co-founder of the ’Société Nationale de Musique’, which offered young French composers a pathway into the music world. He also spend his life fighting against the German influence on French music, especially that of Richard Wagner and Arnold Schönberg.
for: Horn (E-flat), piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246534
for: Bassoon, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246555
for: Tenor saxophone, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246542
for: Tenor saxophone, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246541
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1382980
Originalfassung für Cello und Klavier
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 750730
Eulenburg Miniature Scores
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 740206
aus "Karneval der Tiere"
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 739543
Gm
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1044183
C
for: Piano
Chord Songbook
Item no.: 1050798
G
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553747
for: Soli SATB, Gemischter Chor (SATB), Flöten (2), Englischhorn (2), Trompeten (2), Posaunen (3), Violinen (2), Viola, Cello, Kontrabass, Harfe, Orgel, Orgel ripieno
Score
Item no.: 1337404
for: Gemischter Chor (SATB) [Orgel]
Score
Item no.: 1337880
for: Mixed choir (SATB), organ
Score
Item no.: 1337673
for: Flute, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246564
for: Horn (E-flat), guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246533
for: Bass trombone, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246527
for: Oboe, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1251514
for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1251513
for: Euphonium, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1251507
for: Cello, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1251504
for: Oboe, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1251300
for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1251298
for: Trombone, piano
Sheet music, Download (mp3)
Item no.: 1241114
for: Soprano saxophone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1243598
for: Trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1243593
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1382989
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1384672
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1384429
for: Horn, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1383345
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1378461
op. 67
for: Horn, piano
Music score
Item no.: 726185
("Organ")
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 723058
The Swan from: Le carnaval des animaux, No. 13
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 722528
op. 13
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 5468
Edition Schott
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 740299
aus "Karneval der Tiere"
for: Double bass, piano
Piano score, solo part, audio files (pdf/mp3 download)
Item no.: 1475
for: Oboe, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1243602
for: Tenor saxophone (B-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1243596
for: Oboe, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246562
for: Bass recorder, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246548
for: Cello, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1246520
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 1383358
op. 105
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 753000
The Nightingale
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1341253
B Minor
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 750280
Flute
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 759685
from "The Carnival of the Animals"
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 758445