Saint-Saëns was likely far from the “genius thinking” of romanticism. Music being, he once stated, the art so to speak of putting together tones, and concerning his artistic production, he would then naturally produce works like an apple tree produces apples. This comparison may at first appear strange, but fully conforms to Saint-Saëns’ aesthetic, he who prioritized form and craftsmanship in composing.
Editors of Urtext editions benefit from this matter-of-fact view inasmuch as Saint-Saëns considered the conception of his works as usually determined from the drafting stage. Whereas many of his contemporaries still made sometimes far-reaching modifications in copies or galley proofs, he normally kept to the autograph version without changing any detail right through to publication. Continue reading
Carnival, Mardi Gras, Fasching: Today, Carnival Monday (“Rosenmontag” in German) is also being celebrated in Munich – although somewhat less exuberantly than in Cologne or Mainz.