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Symphonic Steampunk: Saint-Sa毛ns's Organ Symphony

Tom Service dissects Camille Saint-Sa毛ns's Third Symphony, his 'Organ Symphony', famously featured in the Disney film Babe. With organist Anna Lapwood.

"I gave everything to it I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I will never achieve again." So said child prodigy, virtuoso pianist, intellectual, conductor and composer Camille Saint-Sa毛ns about his wildly successful 1873 鈥極rgan Symphony鈥. Famously featured in the 1995 porcine Disney film Babe, it鈥檚 still immensely popular today. But where did it come from? What was Saint-Sa毛ns trying to achieve and how influenced was he by his Parisian contemporaries? With organist Anna Lapwood on the thrill of playing 鈥榯hat chord鈥 in the Royal Albert Hall at the 大象传媒 Proms.

Producer: Ruth Thomson

Available now

29 minutes

Music Played

  • Nigel Westlake

    SAINT-SAENS/NIGEL WESTLAKE: Babe - 'This is a Tale...'

    • Varese Sarabande.
    • VSD 5661.
  • JONATHAN HODGE

    If I Had Words

    Performer: Yvonne Keeley. Performer: Scott Fitzgerald.
    • UNITED ARTISTS RECORDS.
    • UP36333.
  • Benedictine Nuns of Notre Dame

    TRADITIONAL: Dies Irae

    • Decca.
    • 2748264.
  • Camille Saint鈥怱a毛ns

    Symphony no. 3 in C minor Op.78 (Organ symphony)

    Performer: Daniel Roth. Performer: Les Si猫cles. Conductor: Fran莽ois鈥怷avier Roth.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMM 905348.
  • Camille Saint鈥怱a毛ns

    Symphony in A major [c.1850]

    Performer: American Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Leon Botstein.
    • ASO.
    • 084854262364.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony no. 41 in C major K.551 (Jupiter)

    Performer: Aurora Orchestra. Conductor: Nicholas Collon.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 4838228.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no. 7 in A major Op.92

    Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 4838228.
  • Camille Saint鈥怱a毛ns

    Symphony in F major (Urbs Roma)

    Performer: Malm枚 SymfoniOrkester. Conductor: Marc Soustrot.
    • Naxos.
    • 8.573140.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Symphonie fantastique Op.14

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Colin Davis.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • LSO-0007 CD.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Symphonie funebre et triomphale Op.15 for military band (strings & chorus ad lib.)

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Colin Davis.
    • PHILIPS.
    • 475-7765.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Harold en Italie - symphony Op.16 for viola and orchestra

    Performer: Antoine Tamestit. Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Valery Gergiev.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • LSO 0760.
  • Jeanne Louise Dumont Farrenc

    Symphony no. 3 in G minor Op.36

    Performer: European Soloists, Luxembourg. Conductor: Christoph Konig.
    • NAXOS.
    • 8.574094.
  • Charles鈥怣arie Widor

    Symphony no. 5 in F minor Op.42 No.1 for organ

    Performer: David Humphreys.
    • LAMMAS.
    • LAMM178D.
  • Camille Saint鈥怱a毛ns

    Le Carnaval des animaux

    Performer: Toulouse Capitole Orchestra. Conductor: Michel Plasson.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 9029641543.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Symphonie fantastique Op.14

    Performer: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 474 165-2.

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  • Sun 5 Feb 2023 17:00
  • Fri 10 Feb 2023 16:30

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