Saint-Saint--Saint--: Concert for cello no. 1

Tonality

The minor.

Instruments

• Solista: cello.
• Orchestra: wood to two, tubes, trumpets, timbales and rope.

From the atril

Saint-Saëns wrote the concert in 1872 for violonchelist Auguste Tolbecque, who premiered it in January 1873 at the Société des concerts du Conservatoire de Paris. That very conservative institution programmed little music from living composers, and the success of the premiere helped to consolidate the fame of Saint- Saëns as a symphonist.

It breaks with the traditional form in three separate movements: everything is played without pause, in one bow. The cello enters from the first bar with a strong theme, and in the center there appears a delicate minuet and almost nineteen, with the rope in satico. The initial theme returns to the end to close the circle. It remains one of the most loved concerts by the violonchelists.

What to hear

• The immediate entrance of the soloist, without an orchestral introduction.
• The central minuet, elegant and light.
• The return of the initial theme in the last section.