The general effort of the Naxos label to record forgotten music of the later 19th century has served Camille Saint-Saëns especially well: He was a prolific composer whose works almost always reveal something fresh. This is true even though he was increasingly regarded as a conservative over the course of his career, ignoring the contemporary developments of Debussy and the Viennese. Sample the prime attraction here, the delightful Suite in D major, Op. 49, especially the somewhat Bachian Baroque dance movements, and you can ...
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The general effort of the Naxos label to record forgotten music of the later 19th century has served Camille Saint-Saëns especially well: He was a prolific composer whose works almost always reveal something fresh. This is true even though he was increasingly regarded as a conservative over the course of his career, ignoring the contemporary developments of Debussy and the Viennese. Sample the prime attraction here, the delightful Suite in D major, Op. 49, especially the somewhat Bachian Baroque dance movements, and you can't help but think how the whole neoclassic impulse would have been impossible half a century later without this music. After the dance movements comes a very lovely Romance and a vigorous finale. Saint-Saëns wrote a good deal of music in this vein; the Suite in D minor, Op. 16bis, is also not well-known and is nearly as elegant. The final Serenade in E flat major, Op. 15, is an orchestral version of a chamber work with harmonium; of course, this is an orchestral album, but, given...
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