Vilija Poskute and Tomas Daukantas, the piano duo on this album, are from the Baltic region and perfected their skills at conservatories in Zurich, Winterthur, and Rostock.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Saint-Saëns co-founded the Société Nationale de Musique in 1871 to promote new French music and elevate the country's musical life beyond opera.
Composer Biography
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns, born in Paris in 1835, was a child prodigy who composed his first piece at age three and debuted as a pianist at eleven.
Cultural Impact
In 1908, Saint-Saëns wrote L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise, considered one of the first original film scores in music history.
Composer Biography
Beyond music, Saint-Saëns was a prolific writer of poems, philosophical essays, and a comedy, and had deep interests in astronomy, mathematics, theology, biology, and classical archaeology.
Compositional Technique
Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre uses a scordatura violin (E string tuned to E-flat) to create a tritone, known as the "diabolus in musica," and features a xylophone to imitate rattling bones.
Performer Biography
The Duo Poskute Daukantas won the prestigious ARD Music Competition in Munich in 2005, an important event for launching the careers of famous artists.
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FRENCH MUSIC FOR FOUR HANDS
Schumann: Bilder aus Osten, Op. 66, Andante and Variations, Op. 46 & Piano Quintet, Op. 44
Satie: Complete Works for Piano Four Hands
Russian Music for Piano 4 Hands
Butterflying: Piano Music By Elena Kats-Chernin
Danses à quatre mains
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Variationen B-Dur, Op. 83a (Concertino)
