Six Études, Op. 111

Composer: SAINT-SAËNS, Camille
  • Written between 1892-99, Saint-Saëns’ Six Études, Op. 111 consists of six piano pieces, each dedicated to a well-known virtuoso and intended for the concert hall rather than for private study:
    1. Tierces majeures et mineures (Major and minor thirds)
    2. Traits chromatiques (Chromatic traits)
      • Dedicated to Louis Livon
    3. Prélude et Fugue
    4. Les Cloches de Las Palmas (The bells of Las Palmas)
    5. Tierces majeures chromatiques (Chromatic major thirds)
    6. Toccata d’après le cinquième concerto (Toccata after the fifth concerto)
  • Op. 111 was the composer’s second book of concert etudes (the first was Six Études, Op. 52).
  • The themes for the sixth etude, “Toccata after the fifth concerto,” are taken from the third movement of Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103 (as the title suggests). Listen for – references to ragtime, which was just starting to make its way across the Atlantic at the time.2

Sources

  1. “6 Études, Op.111 (Saint-Saëns, Camille),” IMSLP, accessed August 19, 2025, https://imslp.org/wiki/6_%C3%89tudes%2C_Op.111_(Saint-Sa%C3%ABns%2C_Camille).
  2. Piers Lane, Notes in accompanying booklet, Saint-Saëns: The Complete Études performed by Piers Lane, Hyperion 67037, 1998, compact disc.

Cut IDs

17971 26910