Camille Saint-Saëns - Famous Works

Camille Saint-Saëns concert program Salle Pleyel 1896

Program cover from Camille Saint-Saëns’s 1896 concert at Salle Pleyel in Paris, marking fifty years since his debut at the same venue.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) was one of the most important figures of French music in the nineteenth century, contributing significantly to symphonic, operatic, and instrumental repertoire. His style is marked by formal clarity, technical mastery, and refined orchestration, combining Romantic expression with classical balance.

His output spans a wide range of genres, including opera, symphonic music, concertos, chamber works, and choral compositions. The following is a representative selection of his most significant works.

Below is a representative selection of Saint-Saëns’s most significant and enduring works.

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Operas

The Yellow Princess, Opus 30
Samson et Dalila (Samson and Dalila), Opus 47
Henry VIII
Les Barbares

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Orchestral Works

Symphony No. 1 in E flat major, Opus 2
Symphony No. 2 in A minor, Opus 55
Symphony No. 3 "Organ Symphony" in C minor, Opus 78

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Symphonic Poems

Le Rouet d’Omphale, Op. 31
Danse macabre, Opus 40
Phaéton, Op. 39
La jeunesse d’Hercule (The Youth of Hercules), Op. 50

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Other Orchestral Works

Le carnaval des animaux
Introduction et Rondo capriccioso, Op. 28
Havanaise, Op. 83
Rhapsodie d’Auvergne, Op. 73

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Concertos

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, “Egyptian”, Op. 103
Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61
Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33

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Chamber music:

Piano Trio No. 1 in F major, Opus 18
Allegro appassionato in B minor, Opus 43
Oboe Sonata in D major, Opus 166
Clarinet Sonata in E-flat major, Opus 167
Bassoon Sonata in G major, Opus 168
Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Opus 75
Violin Sonata No. 2 in E flat major, Opus 102

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Keyboard/Organ:

Fantaisie No. 1 in E-flat Major

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Choral & Sacred Works:

Messe (Mass), Opus 4
Oratorio de Noël (Christmas Oratorio), Opus 12
Le déluge (The Flood), Opus 45
Requiem, Opus 54

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🔎 Work Analyses of Camille Saint-Saëns on MusiLLection

You can explore detailed analyses of selected works below:

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Robert Schumann - Träumerei, from Kinderszenen, Op. 15 No. 7 (Analysis)

The Woodman’s Child by Arthur Hughes — an image reflecting the quiet innocence and dreamlike atmosphere of Schumann’s Träumerei ℹ️ Work Information Composer: Robert Schumann Work Title: Träumerei from Kinderszenen , Op. 15, No. 7 Year of Composition: 1838 Collection: Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) Duration: approximately 2–3 minutes Form: Short piano miniature Instrumentation: piano _________________________ Few piano works have managed to capture, with such simplicity and sensitivity, the world of memory as Schumann’s Träumerei . Among the thirteen pieces of Kinderszenen (1838), the seventh stands out not only for its popularity, but for its enduring poetic resonance. For Schumann, music was never merely form; it was an inner language. Kinderszenen does not depict childhood — it reflects upon it. It is the gaze of the adult toward a lost world of innocence. As Schumann himself suggested, these pieces are “recollections of a grown-up for the y...

Carl Maria von Weber - Oberon Overture (Analysis)

Costume design for a character from Oberon by Carl Maria von Weber. The opera was a great success at its London premiere in 1826, despite being rarely performed today. ℹ️ Work Information Composer: Carl Maria von Webe Title: Overture to the opera Oberon Years of composition: 1825–1826 Premiere: April 12, 1826 – Covent Garden, London Genre: Overture Structure: Single-movement form with sonata-derived elements Duration: approx. 8–9 minutes Instrumentation: Symphony orchestra _______________________________ The overture to Oberon stands as Weber’s final completed work and, in many respects, his artistic farewell. Written for London’s Covent Garden during the last months of his life, it carries an underlying tension between creative vitality and physical exhaustion. The opera itself draws on medieval and fantastical sources, loosely connected to the world of Shakespeare, though not directly aligned with A Midsummer Night’s Dream . While the stage work never secured ...

Antonio Vivaldi – "Winter" (L’Inverno) from "The Four Seasons" (Analysis)

Nicolas Poussin’s depiction of winter reflects the harshness and instability of nature — an atmosphere vividly mirrored in Vivaldi’s Winter concerto. ℹ️ Work Information Composer: Antonio Vivaldi Title: Winter (L’Inverno), RV 297 Cycle: The Four Seasons , Op. 8 Date of composition: c. 1723 Publication: 1725, Amsterdam Genre: Violin Concerto Structure: Three movements (fast – slow – fast) Duration: approx. 8–9 minutes Instrumentation: Solo violin, strings, and basso continuo ____________________________ Winter is the fourth and final concerto of The Four Seasons , and arguably the most dramatically concentrated of the four. Where Autumn centers on human activity, Winter places the human body in direct confrontation with nature. The environment is no longer festive or communal—it is hostile, unstable, and physically demanding . The human figure does not celebrate or observe. It reacts, endures, and struggles. As in the other concertos, the music is paired with...

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