Saint-Saëns
The current opinion of Saint-Saëns seems to be that he was pretty mediocre: that is music was conservative, pretty, but not terribly deep. Well screw popular opinion. Saint-Saëns rocks! I have a particular fondness for this French dude as it is through him that I was introduced to classical music.
Saint-Saëns lived for a long time. He was born just as the Romantics we’re getting going, and died after the atonalists had shocked the music industry. That’s a lot of music to live through.
Through all these musical changes he kept his cool, not really going in for the trends of the time. His music isn’t nearly as steeped in drama as a lot of the romantics, and that’s one of the reasons I like him. His stuff is not emotionally cold, it just isn’t emotionally excessive.
The piece that you probably already know by Saint-Saëns, even if you aren’t into classical music, is the carnival of the animals. Although this was intended as a fun, kids kind of piece rather than something musically serious, it has some funky little melodies. I remember loving bits of it as a kid. Actually I still love it, I’m just not supposed to admit that because I lose street cred.
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Another piece you might know is the boisterous organ bit from his third symphony. He certainly knew how to write a melody. It’s catchy, and clean, without being too over the top.
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But it’s not dry. Here’s a bit from the 2nd piano concerto, which is precisely the piece that lured me into classical music. I was using it as a background for work, on repeat, when suddenly something clicked.
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