Saint-Saëns: Symphonie en fa Urbs Roma

The complete symphonies of Saint-Saëns on 2 CD’s, a most welcome set, as there are remarkably few complete issues on the market. Saint-Saëns’ music, always extremely well crafted, delights in melodic richness (he knew how to compose a catching tune!), colourful orchestration and an exquisite charm and “French esprit”, which make these works highly attractive for a large audience.

Especially Symphony No. 3, for organ and large orchestra, gained immense popularity, not in the least because of the popsong “If I had Words”, written on the melody of the last movement. These performances by French forces under maestro Jean Martinon, still rank among the best recordings of the wonderful works.

"This recording is really splendid. Martinon and the ORTF Orchestra are obviously a very successful combination; he gets superlative playing from them and he himself gives of his best." Gramophone Magazine

EMI MASTERS celebrates the full glory of the greatest performances from the world's greatest catalogue of recorded music. Digitally remastered at Abbey Road Studios direct from the original master tapes, these classic recordings emerge with unparalleled immediacy. You will be left in no doubt that you are in the presence of legendary musicians and ageless interpretations.

When Franz Liszt overheard Camille Saint-Saëns playing the organ at the Madeleine in Paris, he hailed the young Frenchman as the ‘greatest organist in the world’. Saint-Saëns’talents did not end there: he was a gifted composer - among his most famous works are ‘The Carnival of the Animals’ and ‘Danse Macabre’ - and, naturally, the symphony in which he used his own virtuoso instrument would become his one of his best-loved works. This collection brings together his revered ‘Organ’ Symphony and the Symphony in F ‘Urbs Roma’.

Saint-Saëns originally subtitled Symphony No.3 in C minor Op.87 (unusually arranged in just two movements) as simply avec orgue; the organ does not feature as a solo instrument, but its presence alongside the orchestra adds an exciting dimension to the piece, especially in the lowest pedal notes and the delightful dialogues between the organ and strings. The addition of the arpeggios of the piano part (scored for four hands) provides a wonderful contrast to the organ’s thunderous notes. The Symphony in F ‘Urbs Roma’ is the longest of Saint-Saëns’symphonic compositions, and remained unpublished during the composer’s lifetime. The first movement brims with elegant strings, while the subsequent Molto vivace invokes a whirring dance. The third movement has been described as a ‘funeral march for the death of an empire’, after which the ensuing Poco allegretto - Andante con moto brings the work to a tranquil end. The works are performed by the Orchestre National de l’ORTF conducted by Jean Martinon, featuring acclaimed organist Bernard Gavoty.