CAMILLE SAINT-SANS

Danse Bacchanale from Samson et Delila

Born: October 9, 1835, in Paris

Died: December 16, 1921, in Algiers
Work composed: 186774
World premiere: December 2, 1877, in Weimar, Eduard Lassen conducting

Long-lived Saint-Sans survived an early reputation as a musical revolutionary to

become an arch-reactionary, which says perhaps less about him than about the
tumultuous changes in culture during his long, productive life. Early on he adopted
an esthetic that eerily presaged Stravinskys assertion that music can express
nothing, that its meaning lies exclusively within its formal self. Saint-Sans,
orphaned early and brought up by uncaring relatives, never married, nor even
achieved much intimacy with his fellow human beings, finding more comfort in
the safer presence of pets. To a degree, his esthetic derived from the barrenness of
his personal life, though in its rejection of the expressive potential of music, he
was also reacting in French fashion to perceived excesses of German
Romanticism.

But whatever his psychological damage, he was a consummately gifted musician

with talent and intelligence in many fields. He even lectured on astronomy! An
esteemed pianist and composer of great formal ingenuity, he wrote with facility in
all genres from grand opera to solo recital pieces and virtually everything else in
between including concertos for five for piano, three for violin and a pair for cello.

Of his 13 operas Samson et Delila reigns supreme. An arduous seven-

year gestation period preceded the popular works birth in 1874. Thanks to the
assistance of Franz Liszt, an ardent champion of Saint-Sans music, the project
came to fruition and enjoyed a rousing reception at its premiere. The biblical story
of the heroic Hebraic strongman and his dangerous and enticing lover/betrayer has
enjoyed a steady presence in opera houses worldwide. Extracted from the colorful
score, the famous Bacchanale that accompanies the ballet sequence in the opera
depicts the orgiastic revelry of the temple of Dagon in Act III. Serpentine
melodies, emphatic timpani and overall exoticism engage the senses in a
kaleidoscopic and sensuous aural feast.