Research Lab: Works for strings by Saint-Saëns

The Institut de Recherche en Musicologie (IReMus), in collaboration with the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the city of Dieppe and the University of Dortmund, is accompanying and directing the new critical edition of the complete instrumental works (Bärenreiter) of Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). As a counterpoint to this editorial work, it is also conducting research on historically informed instrumental practices that, in dialogue with performers, feed philological reflection.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary from the death of Camille Saint-Saëns, this seminar dedicated to the compositions for strings of the famous French composer gives the opportunity to deepen some aspects related to the performance practice of French Romantic music, as well as discover how to make a critical edition and thus obtain new tools to understand in depth the musical text.
 
The seminar is composed by three lectures:

16 November 2021, h. 3.00 - 5.00 pm

From Sources to Concerts: the Performance Practice of French Sonatas for Piano and Violin in the 19th Century (1800-1870)
Lecture-studio by Cécile Kubik 
 
Directed at musicians, performers and researchers, this workshop aims to discover a lesser-known repertoire, as well as to raise some questions about its interpretation. The violinist and musicologist Cécile Kubik will reconstruct the path through which the repertoire of French sonatas for piano and violin of the 19th century was formed, especially between 1800 and 1870, which includes some masterpieces by famous composers such as Gabriel Fauré, César Franck and Camille Saint-Saëns. Some issues, almost never raised, related to the performance practice of this vast and fascinating repertoire, will be explored.
Through the analysis of various period sources, both theoretical and related to the performing tradition "on stage", and practical demonstrations, this lecture aims to provide today's musicians with the keys to build their interpretation of this forgotten repertoire.
 

17 November 2021, h. 4.00 - 5.00 pm

The edition of the Œuvres instrumentales complètes of Camille Saint-Saëns: the sonatas for violin and piano.
Lecture by Fabien Guilloux 
 
The current publishing project on the complete instrumental works of Camille Saint-Saëns offers the opportunity to take a fresh look at the French composer's musical production, examining not only the musical sources, but also the interpretative practices of the French instrumental repertoire in the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Looking at the recent critical edition of the violin and piano sonatas, this lecture will present the problems and issues raised by this ambitious project.
 

18 November 2021, 10.00 - 11.00 am

The string quartets and sonatas for cello and piano by Camille Saint-Saëns.
Lecture by Fabien Guilloux 
 
The recent critical edition of the two string quartets by Camille Saint-Saëns and the ongoing edition of the compositions for cello and piano have benefited greatly from new philological questions, which find as a starting point the importance of the interpreter in the process of musical creation and writing. Highlighting the interactions between author, editor, and performer, this lecture will present the issues underlying the renewed editorial approach proposed by the New Complete Instrumental Works of Camille Saint-Saëns.