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SAINT-SAENS – Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor, Op.33 – 5 CELLOS (SOLOIST and QUARTET, or accompanied by Cello Orchestra)

Other Identification:
Camille Saint-Saëns composed his Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33 in 1872, when the composer was 37 years old. He wrote this work for the Belgian cellist Auguste Tolbecque. Tolbecque was part of a distinguished family of musicians closely associated with the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, France’s leading concert society. The concerto was first performed on January 19, 1873 at the Paris conservatoire concert with Tolbecque as soloist. This was considered a mark of Saint-Saëns’ growing acceptance by the French musical establishment. Sir Donald Francis Tovey later wrote “Here, for once, is a violoncello concerto in which the solo instrument displays every register without the slightest difficulty in penetrating the orchestra.”

Movements or sections:
It is cast in the standard three-movement concerto format, though the movements follow without pause, as like the famous Mendelssohn E minor Violin Concerto:

I. Allegro non troppo
II. Allegretto con moto
III. Tempo primo – un poco menos allegro

{Total duration: approx. 22 mins.}

However there often seems confusion in the structure, which is not really so complicated. It saddens me to see people still saying it is in one movement when it is clearly not! It shows the occasional used romantic scheme of introducing the second subject in the recapitulation in first place (what better example than Dvorak’s Cello concerto), and then the first theme afterwards. However, Saint-Saëns goes one step further; the second subject appears as described, and then the WHOLE of the second movement is delivered before the recapitulation of the first theme. And then, of course, straight to the third movement. Easy!

Instrumentation:
QUINTET OF FIVE CELLOS – CELLO SOLOIST AND CELLO QUARTET
CELLO SOLOIST ACCOMPANIED BY AN ORCHESTRA OF CELLOS

8 PDFs:
1 – First Movement – Accompanying Cellos 1 and 2
2 – First Movement – Accompanying Cellos 3 and 4
3 – Second Movement – Accompanying Cellos 1 and 2
4 – Second Movement – Accompanying Cellos 3 and 4
5 – Third Movement – Accompanying Cellos 1 and 2
6 – Third Movement – Accompanying Cellos 3 and 4
7 – Part for Cello Soloist – the complete work
8 – For the cello soloist – NOVELTY ITEM – Third Movement Cadenza by David Johnstone !

Approximate difficulty:
I always felt that a cello ensemble version with soloist would make a most interesting option for almost everyone of medium-advanced levels! That is to say: music conservatoires, the cello sections of professional or advanced level community symphony orchestras, and certainly to the younger generation of promising cellists who understandably wish to get the feel of what it is really like playing a ‘big’ concerto but do not (as of yet!) have a concert performance invitation from a full orchestra. So the idea, in part, is for a soloist to gain increasing confidence, by fully hearing the sustaining harmonies in a way in which a piano alone does not offer you.

It can be equally well played by an accompanying cello quartet or by a larger ensemble of ensembles (in which case please always play divisi when opportunities arise!). What I have basically done is to go half-way between using the piano reduction and the general orchestral score, literally checking every phrase. But that way it is well useful to see which type of version works best for cello ensemble. The work is transcribed in full, although it is stating ‘rehearsal cello ensemble’; for more informal performances this concept will work perfectly.

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