Camille Saint-Saëns: Solo Piano Rarities

Description

Piano — PrefaceMy first glimpse of the six solo piano works in this volume came via several visits I made to the music archives of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF) in Paris in June of 2013. I had known of the existence of unpublished manuscripts of these pieces through Sabine Teller Ratner’s comprehensive bibliographic volume focusing on Saint-Saëns’ instrumental works. The unpublished manuscripts in the BnF’s collection includes three brief instrumental pieces (Antwort, and two untitled pieces which were later bestowed with the appellation Deux Bagatelles by Jean Bonnerot, a noted Saint-Saëns scholar) and three works in a genre that is variously referred to as fantasy, paraphrase, or transcription: one on material from Wagner’s Lohengrin, and two on themes from two separate operas by Meyerbeer. All of these works are being published here for the first time. With one exception, they were written during a three-year period (1857–59), when the composer was in his early 20s. Antwort was written several years later, in 1866.None of the works in this volume were left incomplete by Saint-Saëns, and the quality of the manuscript itself reflects the composer’s typically neat, Gallic hand (there are really no instances of unclear pitches in his notation.) Furthermore, the manuscripts all contain tempo/mood, dynamic, and phrase indications, as well as articulations and some pedal indications. There are, however, some clearly missing accidentals, time signatures, and a few instances of ill-defined rhythmic notation that I have attempted to rectify. I have also added suggested fingerings and metronome markings throughout the works, some pedal markings, and a few indications of specific rubato at structurally important junctures. Which markings are from Saint-Saëns, and which ones are my own incorporations and insertions should be clear throughout these scores (N.B. all suggested fingerings are mine; Saint-Saëns provided none.)As previously mentioned, Saint-Saëns never applied a title to the two pieces that open this volume, but Bonnerot’s appellation of Deux Bagatelles (1858) seems very appropriate, given their brevity and impromptu-like character. Also—interestingly—the composer’s first published solo piano works, Six Bagatelles, Op. 3, were written in 1855, three years earlier. With the Deux Bagatelles, Saint-Saëns seems to be continuing his exploration the potentialities of this genre. Bagatelle No. 1 is in ternary form with a very brief coda combining material from both the “A” and “B” sections. The thematic material in the “A” section is very lyrical and cantabile in character, so that an alternate title of “Lied ohne Worte” might be just as appropriate as “Bagatelle.” The “B” section, in contrast, features cascading arpeggios. Bagatelle No. 2 is lengthier and more varied, additionally incorporating some very imaginative and unexpected harmonic detours.Antwort, written in 1866, contains some remarkable textural and harmonic elements anticipating musical impressionism. The marking “Allegretto quasi arpa e flauto” is further evoked by the composer via a well-crafted doodle on the title page of a flute entwined in a harp’s strings. Material from this piece later appears in Saint-Saëns’s Op. 124 Fantaisie for violin and harp, although with some significant alterations.Valse du Prophète (1857) is taken from Meyerbeer’s 1849 epic grand opera Le prophète, integrating thematic material from several different scenes. Le prophète was a very influential and innovative opera, via the complexity and unconventionality of its libretto, as well as the intricacies of its music. The plot itself was derived from Voltaire’s Essai sur les mœurs et l’esprit des nations, a sprawling work that includes a history of John of Leiden, the sixteenth-century leader of the Anabaptists, who is the opera’s protagonist. Saint-Saëns’s Valse on the opera’s materials features dramatic, juxtaposed contrasts between sections, beginning with a principal theme in E major, followed quickly by a contrasting theme in the very distant key of A≤ major. Two further contrasting “waltz” themes follow before a return to the principal theme and to E major, which includes a virtuoso coda. Any initial sense that the piece might have concluded is upended by a new, lengthy theme and variation in A minor. Haunting and mournful in character, this section eventually builds into another virtuoso coda, followed by a textural transition, featuring numerous tremolos, back to the opening material. The contrasting theme that was first heard in the piece returns again in A≤ major, followed by a final dissolution and coda of the principal theme.L’étoile du nord is an opéra comique in three acts by Meyerbeer, centered on the historical figures of Russia’s Peter the Great and his second wife Catherine I, with many intricate and fanciful plot devices, the whole of which could be described as whimsical artifice, to put it mildly. The Quintet that Saint-Saëns uses as inspiration for his Fantaisie sur la Quintette de “L’Etoile du Nord” (1858) occurs in Act II, wherein Catherine is watching Peter the Great, in disguise as a lowly carpenter, and a pastry chef carousing with two vivandières (women attached to military units as “canteen keepers,” whose role it was to sell wine, food and sundries to the troops.) Saint-Saëns begins the work with a free, rhapsodic, cadenza-like opening, centered on the principal motive of the Quintet. Then the aria proper arrives, full of much more textural variety in Saint-Saëns’ version than in Meyerbeer’s. The final third of the work then deviates from the aria structure, and flourishes into a full-fledged fantasy on the Quintet.The untitled composition that Sabina Teller Ratner has dubbed Fantaisie sur “Lohengrin” de Wagner was written in 1859 according to the dated signature in the composer’s own hand, and incorporates several themes from the opera to create a vivid, imaginative, virtuosic, and very effective solo piano work. Saint-Saëns commences with a few verbatim phrases of “Elsa’s Traum,” but then soon diverges into variations and interweaving of other themes from the opera. There is a wide range of textural writing on display, as well as a fugal section, and an ultimate climax that builds from the Jubelweisen at the end of Act I.To conclude, a brief but essential acknowledgment: I would like to thank the tireless and very knowledgeable personnel of the music and arts sections of the Bibliothèque Nationale for their expertise, guidance, and generosity, all of which was invaluable in the process of tracking down and affording me access to these manuscripts.—Geoffrey BurlesonNOTE: Some of the material in the preface above is taken from the editor’s own liner notes for his recording of these works on Saint-Saëns Complete Piano Works 5: Rarities and Transcriptions (Grand Piano GP 626). Used by permission.AnnotationsAntwortm. 15: The change to treble clef is missing from lower staff in the MS.m. 46: MS simply has an eighth rest followed by six eighth notes in the upper staff, which would denote a measure inxa0 time. The lower staff, however, contains values adding up to a total of six eighth notes. The editor has added a 4:3 tuplet indication over the final four upper staff eighth notes to resolve this discrepancy, based on the fact that the A≥ octave in the upper staff lines up vertically with the dotted quarter note E-major harmony in the lower staff (which is tied from the previous quarter note) in the MS.m. 48: The GΩ accidental on the second eighth note in the upper staff is omitted in the MS.m. 49: The change of meter toxa0 time is omitted in the MS.m. 50: As is the case in m. 46, the MS in m. 50 begins with an eighth rest and is followed by six eighth notes in the upper staff, forming a measure inxa0 time. Once again, the lower staff contains values only adding up to a total of six eighth notes. Unlike in m. 46, however, the concluding dotted quarter-note E-major chord in the lower staff (tied from the previous quarter note) is now vertically precisely aligned between the A≥ and the following B in the upper staff. Thus, the most accurate solution here seems to be to create an eighth-note triplet from the B-A≥-B sequence of melodic pitches in the upper staff.m. 52: The meter change toxa0 is missing from the MS.m. 53: The meter change toxa0 is missing from the MS.Bagatelle No. 2m. 43: Although slurs over sixteenth-note passages largely disappear in the MS from mm. 43–119, and again from mm. 147–152, it is highly conceivable that Saint-Saëns meant these passages to be slurred as well, given the very similar and sometimes identical material.m. 105: Saint-Saëns simply writes “Ped.” In m. 105, with no indication of a pedal release or change until m. 122. The editor has added suggested pedaling by the measure from mm. 105–116 to add greater specificity to the composer’s indication, as a desire on Saint-Saëns’s part for a constantly sustained pedal from mm. 105–120 is highly unlikely.m. 147: See note pertaining to m. 43.Fantaisie sur la Quintettede “L’Etoile du Nord”m. 13: The GΩ accidental in upper staff is missing from the MS.m. 32: The upper clef of the MS has E≤s indicated in the upper clef opening flourish. However, no E≤s appear in the lower clef. The editor’s solution to this conundrum is to retain the EΩs in the lower clef from the MS, and add an EΩ to the final octave in the upper clef. This retains the rising chromatic motion on the downbeats of mm. 31–34, and seems much more intentional than simply sustaining the third inversion F7 chord in m. 32 for another measure. The pedal indication added by the editor recommends a pedal change just after the flourish, as the F7 harmony moves to A minor.m. 37: The GΩ accidental in octave on lower staff is missing from the MS.Fantaisie sur “Lohengrin” de Wagnerm. 4: The GΩ accidental in upper staff is missing from the MS.m. 9: The G≤ accidental in final chord is missing from lower staff in the MS.m. 27: The GΩ accidental in upper staff on beat 4 is missing from MS.m. 177: The A≤ accidentals are missing from both staves in the MS.m. 223: The tuplet indication designating seventeen sixteenth notes withinxa0 time was added by the editor.m. 224: The eighth-note triplet indications on the final two quarter note beats of the lower staff were added by the editor.m. 225: The tuplet indication designating nineteen sixteenth notes withinxa0 time was added by the editor.m. 226: The eighth-note triplet indications on the final two quarter note beats of the lower staff were added by the editor.m. 227: The tuplet indication designating eighteen sixteenth notes withinxa0 time was added by the editor.About Geoffrey BurlesonGeoffrey Burleson, pianist, has performed to wide acclaim throughout Europe and North America, and is equally active as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician and jazz performer. The New York Times has hailed his solo performances as “vibrant” and “compelling”, and has praised his “command, projection of rhapsodic qualities without loss of rhythmic vigor, and appropriate sense of spontaneity and fetching colors”. And the Boston Globe refers to Mr. Burleson as a “remarkable pianist” and “a first-class instrumental presence” whose performances are “outright thrilling.” His numerous acclaimed solo appearances include prominent venues in Paris (at the Église St-Merri), New York, Rome (American Academy), Helsinki (Sibelius Academy), Athens (Mitropoulos Hall), Mexico City (National Museum of Art), Rotterdam (De Doelen), Chicago (Dame Myra Hess Memorial Series), Boston, Washington, Switzerland, England, Spain, and elsewhere. He has also appeared as soloist in many international festivals, including the Mostly Modern Festival, Bard Music Festival, Monadnock Music Festival, Mänttä Music Festival (Finland), Santander Festival (Spain), the Talloires International Festival (France), the International Keyboard Institute & Festival (New York), and the Interharmony International Music Festival (Italy).Mr. Burleson made his New York City solo recital debut at Merkin Hall in 2000, sponsored by the League of Composers/ISCM. Concerto appearances include the Buffalo Philharmonic, New England Philharmonic, Boston Musica Viva, Pioneer Valley Symphony, Arlington Philharmonic, and the Holland Symfonia in the Netherlands, with repertoire ranging from Mozart, Weber and Saint-Saëns to Gershwin, Yehudi Wyner, David Rakowski and Klaas de Vries. Mr. Burleson is a core member of the American Modern Ensemble, Boston Musica Viva, Tribeca New Music, David Sanford’s Pittsburgh Collective. Recent touring projects include Akoka: Messiaen Remix, a CD and program featuring Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, and including new works commenting on it by David Krakauer and DJ Socalled, with David Krakauer, clarinet; Matt Haimovitz, cello; and Todd Reynolds, violin. Via the “Akoka” CD, Burleson was nominated for a 2015 Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year. Burleson also performs with IMPetus, an avant-cabaret trio with vocalist Maria Tegzes and guitarist David “Knife” Fabris, and Princeton University’s Richardson Chamber Players. As a jazz pianist, Mr. Burleson has performed extensively at home and abroad, both as soloist and in many ensembles. The Boston Globe has lauded his jazz performances, praising his “solos filled with complex harmonic and rhythmic figures,” as well as his “compact and dramatic” arrangements of works by such diverse artists as Eric Dolphy and Patti Smith.A laureate of the International Piano Recording Competition (Silver Medal), and the Vienna Modern Masters International Performers’ Competition, Mr. Burleson was also the recipient of a DAAD Grant from the German government to support a residency at the Academy of Arts in Berlin. A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory, New England Conservatory, and Stony Brook University (D.M.A.), his principal teachers include Gilbert Kalish, Leonard Shure, Veronica Jochum, Lillian Freundlich, and Tinka Knopf.Currently, Mr. Burleson is recording the complete piano works of Camille Saint-Saëns, being released on 6 CD volumes on the Naxos Grand Piano label. The first five volumes have been released, beginning with Saint-Saëns: Piano Works 1: Complete Piano Études, in 2012, and most recently, in September 2019, Saint-Saëns Complete Piano Works 5: Rarities and Transcriptions, which includes several unpublished works Mr. Burleson found in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The series has received high international acclaim from Gramophone, International Record Review, Diapason (France) and elsewhere, and has garnered International Piano Choice Awards from International Piano Magazine. Other solo releases include Roy Harris-Complete Piano Music (Naxos), and Vincent Persichetti: Complete Piano Sonatas (New World Records), a 2-CD set on which all twelve of Persichetti’s piano sonatas are united on one release for the first time. The Persichetti recording was accorded high acclaim from the BBC Music Magazine (“BBC Music Choice”; 5/5 stars), a laudatory feature review in Gramophone, and was listed among the best recordings released in 2008 by Fanfare and the American Record Guide. His extensive chamber music discography includes Odd Couple (Oxingale Records), a duo CD of American works with cellist Matt Haimovitz, featuring the Barber and Carter Sonatas, as well as newer works by David Sanford and Augusta Read Thomas. Mr. Burleson teaches piano at Princeton University, and is Professor of Music and Director of Piano Studies at Hunter College-City University of New York. He is also on the piano faculties of The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, the International Keyboard Institute & Festival (New York), and the Interharmony International Music Festival (Italy). Camille Saint-Saëns: Solo Piano Raritiespresents sixnever-before publishedgems of the piano literature by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). Edited for the first time ever by pianist Geoffrey Burleson from the composer's own manuscripts in the archives ofthe Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, these virtuosic pieces are full of the vigor, intricacy, and beauty so characteristic of Saint-Saëns' musical output. From the brief and impromptu-like unnamed Bagatelles, to transcriptions of two Meyerbeer operas, one grand and one comic, and much more, these works make not only a delightful, but also a substantial addition to the advanced pianists' repertoire. Acclaimed by the New York Times, Gramophone, International Record Review, Diapason, BBC Music Magazine, and more, pianist Geoffrey Burleson has made Saint-Saëns' knuckle-busting oeuvre a major focus of his recording career, by recording his complete piano works, 6 CDs in all, for the new Naxos Grand Piano label. Burleson's recording of the newly discovered works on the same label is the premiere recording, hailed by American Record Guide as "an absolute must for anyone interested in Saint-Saëns or romantic virtuosic piano music."