Camille Saint-Saens - Concerto for harp & orchestra (op. 154) - II. Moderato (Marielle Nordmann)

I had a particularly hard time during the preparation of this piece, Un morceau de concert for harp and orchestra, as I was unable to find any sort of information on it, thus, for the time being, the description is limited to my own ideas on the piece, though I would happily add some sort of historical perspective on the piece, if anyone is familiar with it.

Saint-Saens' only harp concerto is a very ambitious multi-sectioned piece of great difficulty for the players and of considerable enjoyment to the listener but I feel that it is, despite of the obvious care on part of the composer (and the fresh playing of the orchestra that is beyond reproach), slightly unfocused: it plays with an array of bright, interesting musical ideas and motives which never quite form something concrete or, to be honest, refreshing; somehow the work is reminiscent of some of the more modern music that tries hard to complicate its' structure as much as possible. Thus, I find myself uploading only one section (un morceau d'un morceau, as it were) that seems to have lodged itself permanently into my head: one of the first themes to appear in the work, a charmingly rustic moderato.

The unusual feature of the present segment is the treatment of the melody itself: the theme, vaguely rustic and, dare I say it, distinctively Celtic in character, is sustained throughout by its' effective passage among the solo harp and different instruments in the orchestra, in particular, the horn and the strings. Moreover, despite the obvious central role that the harp plays in the proceedings, Saint-Saens does not allow the orchestra to simply stay in the background: thus, the first reprise of the theme is graced by a lovely horn solo over sighing string lines; the second finds the harp engaging in a series of runs, while the strings state the theme; the third is highlighted by the pointed appearances of the flute and the clarinet. The second portion of the section, coming after a melodramatic tutti, develops the theme in a more lighthearted manner with a particularly rich orchestral background forming a perfectly glorious tapestry for the runs of the harp. The sudden entrance of particularly chilling final chords prepares a transition for the next section which is not present in this particular upload due to the reasons already mentioned.

It is impossible to imagine a better rendition of the piece that the present one, connecting, in a most luminous example, the lovely playing of Marielle Nordmann and Ensemble orchestral de Paris under Jean-Jacques Kantorov. Hope you'll enjoy :).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Saint-Saens
• classical
• romantic
• orchestral

[jovad1]

beautiful concert

[SirBob202]

I know this was posted a long time ago, but this is by far the clearest and prettiest copy of the song I have heard. Personally, I love this concerto, and was wondering if you were able to post the entire concerto. That would be amazingfulltasticulous :D

[mctous1]

@baltoman24 My own opinion resembles the uploader's, and he has chosen the most "focused" section, but I would allow Saint-Saens more liberty this late in his life. Clearly he was looking inward, perhaps too much so, but he had much to be proud of.

[baltoman24]

I rather disagree with your assessment of this work as unfocused. It is very much part fantasie, but cast within the concerto form. All of Saint-Saens' concerti are full of dialog between the soloist and the orchestra, often done with exceptional subtlety. As you indicate it is a haunting piece, richly melodic and beautifully structured. thank you!

[rolcantu]

could you upload the other movements please?

[baltoman24]

@maceason Do you know if the Zabaleta performance has been reissued on CD? I too, find it the most rewarding; as I recall it was with Jean Martinon conducting. This is another of the very beautiful concerti by that master, Saint-Saens. Thank you!

[mfecchi46]

I heard this song in a ballet dedicated to Proust, with music by Saint Saens, Debussy, Cesar Franck .... lovely

[Juwwww]

Sorry but do you have the other parts of this concerto? I'd be very glad to hear them!

[maceason]

The best recording of this composition is with Nicanor Zabaleta on harp, recorded 1970. The last two movements of this composition in that recording are probably my favourite 4 minutes of recorded music. The 2nd movement, which you've posted here, is taken slower by Zabaleta, but the rhythm of the piece, in all four movements, flows far better in the Zabaleta recording. The recording you posted was released on the 'Spartacus and other compositions' cd about ten years ago: poor performances IMHO

[AngeIake]

Gracious and wonderful!