SAINT SAENS (Camille). - Lot 198

SAINT SAENS (Camille). Born in Paris. 1835-1921. French composer, virtuoso pianist and organist. Grand Cross of the Légion d'Honneur. L.A.S. "Saint-Saëns" to a "colleague and friend" (pianist). Paris, September 19, 1918. 1 page 1/4 in-4. Despite his advanced age (he was 83), Saint-Saëns showed exemplary dynamism: ...So, my dear friend, that's why you weren't at the Odéon, where your absence worried me; you were on vacation in the pretty country of Bagnères-de-Bigorre (in the Pyrenees), which I used to frequent. There was a tiny casino there then, and I'm amazed to see the Palais that replaces it now. I also know Cauterêts (sic) where I went not as a tourist, but as a patient, and whose waters did me a lot of good. I see with pleasure and gratitude that you haven't forgotten me; you played the Etude en forme de Valse again. I don't play it anymore, and yet I play something I couldn't play before, which is incomprehensible. But I still play the Rapsodie d'Auvergne, which is less heroic... On his return from La Canne (in the Flemish region), where he was a guest of the ...Belgian sovereigns... he plans to stay in Dieppe until the end of the month ...After that, I'll stay put and I'll be very happy to see you again... The composer's career as a pianist lasted seventy-five years, ending with a final concert in Dieppe at the age of 86, a few months before his death.Etude en forme de Valse op. 52 N° 6 for piano belongs to the collection Six Etudes published by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1877. It is the best-known piece in this collection.