Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor

Few composers wrote more extensively for the concerto repertoire than Saint-Saëns, whose Cello Concerto No. 1 (1872) is arguably the most important of his numerous such pieces. A quarter-century earlier, Schumann had composed his own concerto for this instrument; Saint-Saëns took up its home key and its modest formal dimensions, but structured his own work as a single movement in three continuous parts. The initial “Allegro non troppo” launches straight in with a vigorous theme for the soloist and then the orchestra, the two trading exchanges here and in the more urbane ideas that follow. What is essentially the exposition of a sonata-form design subsides into the “Allegretto con moto”—an interlude characterised by its graceful minuet-like theme for muted strings and then woodwind, while featuring a cadenza of enticing understatement. The main theme from the first part presently steals in on strings for the “Tempo primo” final section, ideas earlier encountered now heard at greater length in a development and reprise, before a trenchant new theme acts as a coda to round off the work in decisive fashion. First played in Paris on 19 January 1873, by the Belgian cellist and luthier Auguste Tolbecque, with the composer directing, the work was a notable success and, along with those by Schumann, Dvořák and Elgar, is considered one of the most significant cello concertos from the Romantic era.