thumb|227x227px|[[Camille Saint-Saëns in 1875]]
Camille Saint-Saëns composed his Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33, in 1872, when he was 37 years old. He wrote this work for the French cellist, viola da gamba player and instrument maker Auguste Tolbecque. Tolbecque was part of a distinguished family of musicians closely associated with the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, France's leading concert society. The concerto was first performed on January 19, 1873, at the Paris Conservatoire concert with Tolbecque as soloist. This was considered a mark of Saint-Saëns' growing acceptance by the French musical establishment.
Sir Donald Francis Tovey later wrote "Here, for once, is a violoncello concerto in which the solo instrument displays every register without the slightest difficulty in penetrating the orchestra." Many composers, including Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff, considered this concerto to be the greatest of all cello concertos. Yo-Yo Ma's recording of five "Great Cello Concertos" includes Dvořák's, Elgar's, Haydn's 2nd, Saint-Saëns' first, and Schumann's.
Structure and overview
Saint-Saëns broke with convention in writing the concerto. Instead of using the normal three-movement concerto form, he structured the piece in one continuous movement. This single movement contains three distinct sections. Those sections, tightly structured, share interrelated ideas. Saint-Saëns' contact with Franz Liszt while serving as organist at the Église de la Madeleine may have led him to use cyclic form in his orchestral works.
Along with the solo cello, the concerto is scored for an orchestra consisting of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings.
The work is split into three different movements as follows:
Saint-Saëns very often uses the solo cello here as a declamatory instrument. This keeps the soloist in the dramatic and musical foreground, the orchestra offering a shimmering backdrop. The music is tremendously demanding for soloists, especially in the fast third section. This difficulty has not stopped the concerto from becoming a favourite of the great virtuoso cellists.
I. Allegro non troppo
The concerto begins unusually. Instead of the traditional orchestral introduction, the piece begins with one short chord from the orchestra. The cello follows, stating the main motif. Soon, countermelodies flow from both the orchestra and soloist, at times the two playfully "calling and answering" each other.
;1st movement, 1st theme (A minor)
:<score sound="1">
\relative c' \new Staff {
\key a \minor \clef bass
\set Staff.midiInstrument = "cello"
\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo "Allegro non troppo" 2 = 80
\time 2/2
\set tupletSpannerDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 4)
\set beamExceptions = #'((end . ( ((1 . 8) . (2 2 2 2)) )))
r4 e4\mf-> ~ \times 2/3 { e8( d c b c d) | c( b a gis a b } a e) f4->( ~ | f e) r8 e,( f4-> ~ | f e)
}
</score>
;1st movement, 2nd theme
:<score sound="1">
\relative c, \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } {
\key a \minor \clef bass
\set Staff.midiInstrument = "cello"
\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 2 = 76
\time 2/2
\set Score.currentBarNumber = #16 \bar ""
\set tupletSpannerDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1 4)
\set beamExceptions = #'((end . ( ((1 . 8) . (2 2 2 2)) )))
\override Score.SpacingSpanner #'common-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1 5)
\times 2/3 { e8(\<_\markup \italic "poco animato" gis) gis gis( b) b b( e) e e( f) f | f->(\! e dis) dis dis dis f->( e dis) dis dis dis |
e(\< gis) gis gis( b) b \clef tenor b( e) e e( f) f | f->(\! e dis) dis dis dis f->( e dis) dis dis dis } |
\set beamExceptions = #'()
e r e,-- f-- f( e) e-- a-- | a( gis) gis-- c-- c( b) b-- f'-- |
f( e) e-- a-- a( gis) gis-- c-- |
\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 2 = 66
c(_\markup \italic "rallent." b) b( e) e4.(\> e,8)\!
}
</score>
;1st movement, 3rd theme
:<score sound="1">
\relative c' \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } {
\key a \minor \clef bass
\set Staff.midiInstrument = "cello"
\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 2 = 72
\time 2/2
\set Score.currentBarNumber = #59 \bar ""
\override Score.SpacingSpanner #'common-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1 2)
d2(\p g,) | a( bes) | a4( bes c d) | c( d e f) | ges2(\sf c,) | d( es) | \clef tenor d4( es f g) | f( g a bes) |
bes2(\(\dim e,) | f( g)\) | bes(\( e,) | f( g)\) | a1(\pp | \clef treble a'\flageolet) ~ | a( | a,) |
}
</score>
;1st movement, 4th theme (piano reduction, F major)
:<score sound="1">
\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff = "up" \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } { \relative c {
\key f \major \clef treble
\set Score.currentBarNumber = #111 \bar ""
\set Staff.midiInstrument = "string ensemble 1"
\accidentalStyle "modern"
\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo "Allegro molto" 2 = 108
\override Score.SpacingSpanner #'common-shortest-duration = #(ly:make-moment 1 4)
\time 2/2
<a c f>2.^\marcato <c g' c>4 | <c f a> <bes f' bes> <b e gis> <a e' a> | <a d fis> <g d' g> <g c e> <f c' f> | <d f g>4. <f g>8 <e g c>4. q8 |
\set beamExceptions = #'((end . ( ((1 . 8) . (2 2 2 2)) )))
<f a>4 <f a c f>2-> <g' c>8 c, | <f a> c <f bes> bes, <e gis> b <e a> a, | <d fis> a <d g> g, <c e> g <c f> f, | <d f g>4. <f g>8 <e g c>4. q8 |
\set beamExceptions = #'()
a bes c d c d e g | f g a bes bes g e bes | a bes c d c d e g | f g a bes bes g e bes |
\new Dynamics { s4\f }
\new Staff = "down" \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } { \relative c {
\key f \major \clef bass
\set Staff.midiInstrument = "cello"
\accidentalStyle "modern"
<f f'>2.^\marcato <e e'>4 | <es es'> <d d'> q <cis cis'> | <c c'> <b b'> <bes bes'> <a a'> | <bes bes'>4. q8 <c c'>4. q8 |
<f, f'>4 q2-> <e e'>4 | <es es'> <d d'> <d' d'> <cis cis'> | <c c'> <b b'> <bes bes'><a a'> | <bes bes'>4. <bes, bes'>8 <c c'>4. q8 |
<f f'>4 r <e' g c> r | <d f bes d> r <c g' bes e>\arpeggio r | <f a c> r <e g c> r | <d f bes d> r <c g' bes e>\arpeggio r |
>>
</score>
II. Allegretto con moto
The turbulent opening movement leads into a brief but highly original minuet, in which the strings are muted, and which contains a cello cadenza.
;2nd movement theme (B major)
:<score sound="1">
\new StaffGroup <<
\new Staff { \relative c {
\key bes \major \clef treble
\mark \markup \sans F
\set Staff.midiInstrument = "pizzicato strings"
\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo "Allegretto con moto" 4 = 108
\set Score.currentBarNumber = #208 \bar ""
\time 3/4
r4 r f-.\pp | es8-. f-. g-. es-. g4-. | g-. f-. d-. | es-. \acciaccatura { f8 } es8-. d-. es4-. | es2
f4-. | es8-. f-. g-. es-. g4-. | g-. f-. d-. | es-. \acciaccatura { f8 } es8-. d-. es4-. | d2
\new Staff { \relative c {
\key bes \major \clef treble
\set Staff.midiInstrument = "pizzicato strings"
r4 r\pp
<< {
bes-. | bes8-. bes-. bes-. bes-. bes4-. | bes-. bes-. bes-. | bes-. bes8-. bes-. bes4-. | bes2
bes4-. | bes8-. bes-. bes-. bes-. bes4-. | bes-. bes-. bes-. | bes-. g-. a-. | bes2
} \\ {
f4-. | f8-. f-. f-. f-. f4-. | f-. f-. f-. | f-. f8-. f-. f4-. | f2
f4-. | f8-. f-. f-. f-. f4-. | f-. f-. f-. | f-. r f-. | f2
} >>
\new Staff { \relative c' {
\key bes \major \clef alto
\set Staff.midiInstrument = "pizzicato strings"
r4 r d-.\pp | c8-. d-. es-. c-. es4-. | es-. d-. bes-. | c-. \acciaccatura { d8 } c8-. bes-. c4-. | c2
d4-. | c8-. d-. es-. c-. es4-. | es-. d-. bes-. | c-. r f,-. | bes2
>>
</score>
;3rd movement, 1st theme (A minor)
:<score sound="1">
\relative c' \new Staff {
\key a \minor \clef tenor
\set Staff.midiInstrument = "cello"
\set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo "Un peu moins vite" 2 = 50
\mark \markup \sans K % H = 372
\time 2/2
\set Score.currentBarNumber = #412 \bar ""
r2 e8\p( a4 g8) | c,( f4 e8) a,( d4 c8) | \times 2/3 { c( b a } b4 ~ b8) b( c d) | \times 2/3 { f( e dis } e4 ~ e8) fis( gis a) | b4(-> e,)
e8( a4 g8) | c,( f4 e8) a,( d4 c8) | \times 2/3 { c( b a } b4 ~ b8) b( cis dis) | \times 2/3 { fis( e dis } e4 ~ e8)\< fis( g a) |
b2(\> ~ b8\! a e fis) | g-- fis-- e2( dis4) | e1 ~ | e ~ | e2
}
</score>
III. Tempo I
The finale opens with a restatement of the opening material from the first movement. Saint-Saëns introduces two new themes but also includes the recapitulation of the fourth theme from the first movement, tying the whole design together.