Cyprès et Lauriers, Op. 156, for Organ and Orchestra
was written by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1919, two years
before the composer's death. An unusual work, it is a
memorial for the casualties of World War I.
Lasting not quite twenty minutes, the entire piece is
program music divided into two parts, each
corresponding to a section of the title. The first
(this) part, which corresponds to 'cyprès' (literally
'cypress') is a long, mournful adagio for organ solo in
the manner of a dirge, r...(+)
Cyprès et Lauriers, Op. 156, for Organ and Orchestra
was written by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1919, two years
before the composer's death. An unusual work, it is a
memorial for the casualties of World War I.
Lasting not quite twenty minutes, the entire piece is
program music divided into two parts, each
corresponding to a section of the title. The first
(this) part, which corresponds to 'cyprès' (literally
'cypress') is a long, mournful adagio for organ solo in
the manner of a dirge, reminiscent of the weeping that
a cypress is often seen to embody.
One of Saint-Saëns' more (though by no means only)
unusual compositions, this piece has not secured the
same status in the classical canon as his more famous
Third Symphony, written for similar ensemble thirty-one
years earlier. This might be attributed to the fact
that Cyprès et Lauriers is of a much shorter duration
and markedly less profound and sweeping nature than its
predecessor.
The instrumentation itself bears note: whereas the
Third Symphony was written with the organ incorporated
as a member of the orchestral ensemble, something that
would bear repetition (most famously in Richard
Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra), Cyprès et Lauriers
is structured in traditional concerto form with the
organ as soloist.
SHEET MUSIC