Entry One

Saint-Saëns’ 2nd Concerto: A Delicate FloweR

The first movement of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22 is something else. Just compare the piano solo at the start vs. at the ending. The beginning is like a blossoming flower -- the music organically unfolds out of a lonely, declamatory cadenza and the eventual involvement of the orchestra reveals its many colors. The growth reaches its peak during a dramatic climax in which the orchestra restates the main theme accompanied by a virtuosic flurry of parallel octaves in the piano part. But the pianist restates that same theme shortly thereafter, and the orchestra's presence is slowly fading. The colors are not as vibrant anymore. The opening cadenza returns, but in a much more subdued way. Everything is quiet, and the very minimal orchestral parts are giving their dying breaths. And at the end of it all is the same flower but withering away, with each petal falling off as the piano and orchestra play their last chords in unison. So frail and tragic, yet so deep and powerful.