Camille Saint-Saens

für Violoncello und Klavier / for Violoncello and Piano-Camille Saint-Saëns Allegro Appassionato Op. 43 for Cello and Piano. Urtext edition score.At the beginning of the 1870s Saint-Saëns displayed a particular partiality for theVioloncello. He composed his first Cello sonata in December 1872 immediately after having completed the first Cello concerto. It was presumably directly after this that he wrote the Allegro Appassionato for Celloand Piano op. 43 that also appeared in a version for Orchestra three years later.We do not know why he wrote the work but it is likely that after having written two weighty works for Cello Saint-Saëns wanted towrite something ?easier? that was also suitable as an encore. In this Henle Urtext edition David Geringas has kindly provided the fingering and bowing for the brilliant Cello part.

Piano Concerto no. 4 in c minor op. 44. Despite its unusual form - a structure with two sections, each comprising two movements that are to be played without interruption - this work from 1875 enjoyed great success from the start. In its balanced proportion of solo part to orchestra, it corresponds almost perfectly to the model of the ?symphonic concerto? and numbers among the most popular concerti by this French composer. For the first edition of 1877, no less a figure than Gabriel Fauré undertook the piano transcription of the orchestral part - an optimal basis for Johannes Umbreit?s piano reduction for the first Urtext edition ever of this work. As for the Piano Concerti no. 2 and no. 5 already issued by Henle, Pascal Rogé, one of the greatest experts on Saint-Saëns? piano works, also provided the fingerings for this edition.

Owing to its Latin text Saint-Saëns? Christmas Oratorio has found admirers all over the world. Saint-Saëns avoids theatrical effects in his church music and relies almost entirely on homophonic choral writing. Here the operatic allusions so popular in his day have given way to a mixture of romantic élan and reminiscences of the Baroque. The subtitle reads ? dans le style de J. S. Bach? although the composer was unaware of Bach?s Christmas Oratorio.In this unusual form the oratorio of which the final movement is already a hit with many choruses is well-suited for performance during the Advent and Christmas seasons providing a welcome change fromBach.A ?discovery? for Christmas and Advent concertsRelatively simple choral writingSensitive organ arrangementThe Bärenreiter Choir & Organ Series presents great choral works in arrangements for soloists choir and organ; no orchestra is needed.The original orchestral parts have been transcribed into easy-to-play organ reductions whereby the contemporary tradition of such arrangements has been taken into consideration. In some cases the original organ versions by the composer were used. The organ parts are presented on three staves. The choir and solo parts always remain true to the original. You need only one edition for soloists singers and organist alike.