Septet (Saint-Saëns)

History#

The septet is dedicated to Émile Lemoine, a mathematician who in 1861 founded the chamber music society La Trompette. Saint-Saëns and other well known musicians such as Louis Diémer, Martin Pierre Marsick, and Isidor Philipp would often perform at the concerts of the society, which took place at Salle Érard and later in the hall of the Horticultural Society. The complete septet was successfully premiered on 28 December 1880. The string quartet was doubled at the premiere – in Saint-Saëns’ opinion, it made a stronger impact that way. The work was first published in March 1881 with Durand.

Structure#

The work consists of four movements, each around four minutes in length.

I. Préambule#

The pompous opening with a flourish of unison scales leads to the trumpet’s entrance on a sustained E. :

II. Menuet#

The minuet uses “baroque clichés” even more strikingly than the first movement. Influences of Lully and Handel are mixed with romantic elements. The central trio features an elegant melody; Keller calls it a “gem of light lyricism in which the piano embroiders the strings’ melody with a filigree of decoration.” :

III. Intermède#

The Intermède (interlude), initially titled Marche funèbre, is the work’s only fully romantic movement: a minor-key cantilena over a Bolero-style rhythm. The main theme is first introduced in the cello, and then played in succession by the viola, the violins, and the trumpet, while the piano provides a rhythmic ostinato; Keller calls the effect “rather Schumannesque”. :

IV. Gavotte et Finale#

The final movement is a “rollicking dance movement”, in which the rhythm of the time-honored Gavotte is somewhat obscured by brilliant piano passages. A brilliant virtuoso fugue ends the movement, “bringing everything to a broadly smiling conclusion”. :

Legacy#

Hugo Wolf, who attended a performance of the septet in Vienna on 1 January 1887, wrote: “What was most engaging about this piece, distinguished by its skillful exploitation of the trumpet, was its brevity. A bit longer, and it would be a bore. This shrewd moderation and pithiness is admirable, and absolutely not to be underestimated. How many a German composer might envy Saint-Saëns this virtue!” Of Saint-Saëns’s works, it was the septet that he reportedly liked most. In October 1907, Saint-Saëns confessed to Lemoine: “When I think how much you pestered me to make me produce, against my better judgment, this piece that I did not want to write and which has become one of my great successes, I never understood why.” The septet was performed at Saint-Saëns’ last public appearance as a pianist, shortly before his death, on the occasion of a celebration that Académie des Beaux-Arts members threw for him.

Arrangements#

Numerous arrangements of the septet were made, including one for piano trio by Saint-Saëns himself (November 1881), and the Menuet and Gavotte for two pianos (August 1881). His pupil Gabriel Fauré arranged the work for piano duet (October 1881). Albert Périlhou made a concert transcription of the Gavotte (April 1886).

External links#

• • , performed by members of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne Orchesterakademie