Saint-Saëns, Camille

Saint-Saëns, (Charles) Camille

(born Oct. 9, 1835, Paris, France—died Dec. 16, 1921, Algiers) French composer. Astonishingly gifted from childhood, with a phenomenal memory (at his debut piano recital at age 11, he offered to play any Beethoven sonata without music), he became a darling of the salons and a celebrated improviser. To promote new music by French composers, he founded the Société Nationale de Musique in 1871. His compositions are often brilliant in their effects but not always profound. Of his 13 operas, Samson et Dalila (1877) had the greatest success. He wrote piano, cello, and violin concertos and three symphonies (including the “Organ” Symphony, 1886); his tone poem Danse macabre (1874) and the suite Carnival of the Animals (1886) are widely known.