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Camille Saint-Saëns letters
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. A child-prodigy, he performed in his first concert at the age of ten and began studying at the Conservatoire de Paris at thirteen. His early professional years were spent as an organist in Paris until he began composing, at which point he achieved critical success and eventually became an internationally-known figure.
His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Second Piano Concerto (1868), the First Cello Concerto (1872), Danse macabre (1874), the opera Samson and Delilah (1877), the Third Violin Concerto (1880), the Third ("Organ") Symphony (1886) and The Carnival of the Animals (1887).
This collection consists of letters from Camille Saint-Saëns to various correspondents. It also includes one telegram and several envelopes whose contents are missing. A great many of the letters are to Princess A. Bibesco. Other addressees include Edouard Dern, Marianne Eissler, Richard Pohl, a Monsieur F. Hueffer, a Monsieur Alboize, Dandelot and Sardou. Many of the addressees cannot be identified. One letter is written on the same sheet as an undated letter in German from an unidentified correspondent to "Lieber Freund," possibly Saint-Saëns. The collection includes an undated postcard with a portrait photograph of Saint-Saëns.
Most of the letters are accompanied with English translations.
Gift of Leon Robbin in memory of Otto Albrecht, 1993-1994.
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
- Finding Aid Author
- Clémence Scouten
- Finding Aid Date
- 2015 May 7
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.