Maybe you are entranced by his "The Carnival of the Animals." Or you can't get enough of his piano concertos.
Composer Camille Saint-Saens was born Oct. 9, 1835, in Paris. After his father died of tuberculosis when he was an infant, he spent two years in a nursing home over exposure concerns.
His mother and great-aunt raised him after that. The great-aunt was the first one to teach him piano, when he was still a tiny boy.
At 13, he entered the Paris Conservatory and won the Premier Prix within three years. The award is the highest distinction a student can earn while finishing studies.
He taught for a time at École Niedermeyer, where Gabriel Fauré was one of his pupils.
According to Grove Music online, Saint-Saens has often been compared to Mozart, and like him, was a “brilliant craftsman, versatile and prolific, who contributed to every genre of French music.”
Saint-Saens was also one of the leaders of the French musical renaissance in the late 19th century.
