Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22 (1868)

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22 (1868)

Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)

Camille Saint-Saens was one of the great virtuoso pianists of his day, as can be verified by listening to the astonishing recordings which he made even in his advanced old age. He was an amazing child prodigy, both as composer and pianist----in his debut recital at the age of ten he offered to perform any of the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven as an encore! However, his pianistic activities were largely confined to his own works, among them five brilliant piano concertos, of which the Second Concerto in G minor is perhaps the most popular. Doggedly tradition-minded in outlook, Saint-Saens nevertheless was a warm friend of such path-breaking figures as Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, and even won the admiration of Richard Wagner when he sat down to perform on the piano Tristan Und Isolde from the full score! He was the teacher of Gabriel Faure, and living well into the 20^th century, even knew the admiration of the young Maurice Ravel, and met the young Aaron Copland at the beginning of his studies in Paris in the early 1920s. (Saint-Saens also is remembered for his horrified reaction upon attending the premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite Of Spring in 1913!)

Although deservedly regarded as a musical conservative, Saint-Saens showed a lively interest in structural innovation in many of his concertos and symphonies, as in the case of the opening movement of the Second Piano Concerto. Instead of a brilliant introductory flourish, the piano quietly unfolds an improvisatory prelude heard without the orchestra, with piano writing quite clearly influenced by the characteristic figuration of Johann Sebastian Bach’s keyboard works. Only after a quite discursive initial section for piano solo is the orchestra make a striking entry with a powerful Fortissimo declamation. This leads to the principal melody set out in the piano, again lyrical rather than dramatic, which is juxtaposed with a section in B flat Major, giving an initial impression that it will serve as a second subject. But while an extended developmental section follows, there is no clear-cut recapitulation. The meditative opening improvisatory music returns, with the orchestral declamation heard again at the end. While the orchestra has its role to play, much of this ten-minute movement is confined to the piano alone. In the remaining two movements of the concerto, which are by turns brilliant, dramatic and quite popular in their “Parisian” tone, the role of the orchestra is greatly expanded from the reticent position it occupies in this poetic and reflective opening movement.

NCO Concert