Saint-saëns the globe-trotter

A much-travelled composer

In his lifetime, Saint-saëns visited 27 countries across five different continents, and often found musical inspiration along the way. Among those countries were…

Algeria: Saint-saëns first visited Algeria in 1873 and made many visits thereafter, including what would prove to be his last ever trip abroad in 1921. His fascination with the country inspired his Suite algérienne, premiered in 1880. Egypt: Another of Saint-saëns’s favourite winter vacation destinations most famously left its mark in his ‘Egyptian’ Piano Concerto No. 5 of 1896. Written during a stay in Luxor, the work’s exotic sounds include representations of Nile boatmen and the chirping of crickets. United States: Saintsaëns made two very successful tours of the US in the early 1900s, as both composer and pianist. He celebrated his enthusiasm for the country with Praise Ye The Lord, a large-scale setting of Psalm 150, dedicated to New York architect Whitney Warren (below).

Uruguay: Saint-saëns made two visits to Uruguay, and is sometimes credited with having composed the country’s national anthem.

The Uruguayan government did, in fact, commisison him to compose a hymn for the national day on 14 July. Subsequent political changes, however, and the elevation of 25 August as Uruguay’s official independence day precluded Saint-saëns’s hymn becoming the national anthem. Russia: In 1887, invited to give seven concerts in Russia, Saint-saëns took with him his new Caprice on Danish and Russian Airs. When premiered in St Petersburg, among the audience was the hugely impressed conductor and composer Anton Rubinstein.