Camille Saint-saëns: Works for Piano, vol. 2 Antony Gray

• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921):
• 1 Saint-saëns: Le Deluge, Op. 45: Prelude 06:57
• 2 Saint-saëns: Serenade, Op. 15 04:29
• 3 Saint-saëns: Hymne de la fete de pacques 07:34
• 4 Saint-saëns: Album de Gauloises: No. 16 Improvisation 02:36
• 5 Saint-saëns: Chant du Soir, after Schumann Op. 85 No. 12 03:02
• 6 Saint-saëns: Improvisation sur la Beethoven-cantata de Liszt 16:09
• 7 Saint-saëns: Bagatelle I 03:29
• 8 Saint-saëns: Bagatelle Ii 02:29
• 9 Saint-saëns: Berceuse, Op. 105 03:14
• 10 Saint-saëns: Paraphrase sur Gallia de Gounod 12:34
• 11 Saint-saëns: Fantasie en re majeur ecrite par Luis Milan de Valence 03:31
• 12 Saint-saëns: Fantasie en sol mineur ecrite par Luis Milan de Valence 03:57
• Douze transcriptions pour piano:
• 13 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 1 Ouverture due 29e cantate, Bwv29 04:03
• 14 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 2 Adagio de la 3e cantate, Bwv3 05:17
• 15 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 3 Andantino de la 8e cantate, Bwv8 05:56
• 16 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 4 Bourree de la 1e Partita, Bwv 1002 03:35
• 17 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 5 Andante de la 2e sonate de violon, Bwv 1003 05:33
• 18 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 6 Presto de la 35e cantate, Bwv35 03:45
• 19 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 7 Introduction et Air de la 15e cantate, Bwv15 02:51
• 20 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 8 Fugue de la 3e sonate de violon, Bwv 1005 07:39
• 21 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 9a Largo de la 3e sonate de violin, Bwv 1005 03:23
• 22 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: Recitatif et Air de la 30e cantate, Bwv30 02:20
• 23 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 10 Gavotte de la 3e Partita, Bwv 1006 03:07
• 24 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 11 Air de la 36e cantate, Bwv36 02:57
• 25 Saint-saëns: Douze transcriptions pour piano: No. 12 Choeur de la 30e cantate, Bwv30 02:37
• Total Runtime 02:03:04

Info for Camille Saint-saëns: Works for Piano, vol. 2

Saint-Saëns excelled as a composer, conductor, pianist and organist – his composition output is enormous, reaching over 160 titles of which many are substantial – operas, ballets, symphonies – yet today much of his work remains neglected and he is known by a few works only: the Organ Symphony, Samson et Dalila, Danse Macabre and Carnival of the Animals. His original piano pieces are generally light ‘salon’ works but are nonetheless delightful and well formed. His major contribution to the piano works is the equally neglected body of transcriptions (of his own works and those of others) where he was sadly eclipsed by the more outgoing and promotion-minded Franz Liszt. This album and its companion include a number of first recordings, introducing a large body of keyboard gems to a new audience. Volume 2 is divided into two sections: transcriptions from Cantata and Oratorio and original ‘occasional pieces’, transcriptions of two works by Luis de Milan and the Douze Transcriptions (of which there 13!) of works by J. S. Bach.

Antony Gray, piano

Antony Gray (Tony Gray)
was educated in Victoria, Australia. He graduated from the Victorian College of Arts where he studied with Roy Shepherd and Stephen McIntyre, winning several awards and prizes, including the Allans Keyboard Award two years running. In 1982 he received a scholarship from the Astra foundation to continue his studies in London with Joyce Rathbone and Geoffrey Parsons.

Antony Gray, based now in London, has long been regarded as one of the most interesting and communicative performers of his generation. His career to date has encompassed solo and chamber music performances around the world, as well as regular recordings for CD and radio. He has been a (selective) champion of contemporary and, and has premiered many pieces written for him. He has also championed many neglected composers such as George Enescu, Dussek and Martinu. From his time at College he has been a champion of many living composers, and his work with Australian composers Malcolm Williamson and John Carmichael has been particularly productive.

Antony Gray was one of ABC Classics’ most prolific recording artists, having recorded fourteen discs of solo piano music for the label, as well as featuring on a recital disc for KNS Classical and a number of other recording projects. Recordings already released are the complete solo piano works of Eugene Goossens, Malcolm Williamson (this recording has been included in a recent survey of 1001 recordings to hear before you die) and John Carmichael, as well as the late piano pieces of Johannes Brahms, a 3 disc set of Bach transcriptions, including several written specially for the recording, and a 5 disc set of the complete piano works of Francis Poulenc, including a number of works recorded for the first time, all on ABC Classics. His latest work is a project to record all of Camille Saint-Saëns’ piano music, including a large body of unpublished and previously unrecorded works, to be released by Divine Art.

Booklet for Camille Saint-saëns: Works for Piano, vol. 2