The Six Études for the Left Hand Alone, Op. 135, were written for Madame Caroline de Serres, a duo pianist with Saint-Saëns, after her right hand became incapacitated.
Composer Biography
Franz Liszt, a renowned composer and pianist, once referred to Camille Saint-Saëns as the greatest organist on earth.
Compositional Technique
Saint-Saëns's Étude Op. 111, No. 6, a brilliant Toccata, is a transformation for solo piano of the last movement of his Piano Concerto No. 5, incorporating elements of ragtime.
Composition History
Saint-Saëns wrote three sets of piano études over more than forty years, which are described as ingenious and groundbreaking.
Compositional Technique
The Six Études for the Left Hand Alone, Op. 135, are arranged as a quasi-Baroque suite, drawing inspiration from French Baroque masters Couperin and Rameau.
Composer Biography
Camille Saint-Saëns, a seminal figure in French Romantic music, was a keyboard prodigy who, at age ten, offered to play any of Beethoven's 32 sonatas as an encore.
Compositional Technique
Saint-Saëns's Étude Op. 52, No. 2, 'Pour l'indépendance des doigts', features a unique notation where a larger notehead within repeated chords indicates the melodic line.
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