Allegro appassionato for Cello and Orchestra in b minor, Op. 43

Composer: SAINT-SAËNS, Camille
  • Saint-Saëns published this piece in 1875.1  Scholars are not sure when he wrote it, however, as we do not have the manuscript. One of his biographers (writing in 1930) said the piece premiered on 8 Feb. 1873, so 1873 is often listed as the year of composition.2
    • That biography doesn’t cite any contemporary sources, though, so we take the date with a grain of salt. (The biography is La Vie et l’Œuvre de Saint-Saëns, Paris, 1930). 
  • Saint-Saëns dedicated this piece to London-based French cellist Jules Lasserre. Lasserre was the principal cellist in an organization called the Concerts populaires, directed by Jules Pasdeloup. Pasdeloup’s aim was to present high-quality concerts that were affordable to attend.3
  • Saint-Saëns arranged his original cello and piano piece for cello and orchestra in 1876.4 
  • This piece was not terribly well-received during Saint-Saëns’ lifetime, but it became popular after 1900 thanks in part to Pablo Casals, who performed it frequently.5

Sources

  1. Daniel M. Fallon, Sabina Teller Ratner, and James Harding, “Saint-Saëns, (Charles) Camille,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed January 15, 2020, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000024335.
  2.  Peter Jost, preface to Allegro appassionato op.43 for Violoncello and Piano by Camille Saint-Saëns (Munich: G. Henle, 2014).
  3. Roger Nichols, “Allegro appassionato, OP 43,” Hyperion (2014), accessed January 15, 2020, https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp?w=W13677. 
  4. Jost, preface to Allegro appassionato op.43 for Violoncello and Piano by Camille Saint-Saëns.
  5. Ibid.

Cut IDs

11771, 21861