# Saint Säens 3rd Violin Concert



## csacks (Dec 5, 2013)

This is just to know your opinion of one of my favorite violin concerts, Saint Säens 3rd. It is underrated and is not recorded often neither considered regularly in programs. Any idea to explain it? (I already asked about the Saint Sáens 3rd, but the symphony. My Alzheimer´s disease is not that advanced yet)
Thanks in advance and Mary Christmas for all


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Never liked it. Too schmalzy and sentimental. If forced to listen, I would pick Zino Francescatti.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

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Probably because there are many like it, it isn't performed very often?
Could it be that it is the transitional period, firmly rooted in the romantic era but modernity already shining through, that makes it, undecided or so ? Reminds me a bit of Vieuxtemps.
Enjoyable nevertheless, but it doesn't stand out, imo.

Cheers,
Jos


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I'll take Vieuxtemps any day.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Yep, and I agree that it has some very sentimental parts in it, just listened to it completely. And parts that I've heard before by others, Mendelsohn, a touch of Sibelius at the end, dunno, let's call it an ecclectic concerto.

Cheers,
Jos


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I enjoy the concerto probably the most of his violin concertos, but I definitely prefer his piano and cello concertos to the violin ones. Also I prefer his violin and orchestral works, _Havanaise_ and _Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso_, to his violin concertos. I'm not sure exactly why.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The concerto was "in vogue" during the 1940's-1950's, but has just about disappeared from today's scene.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

I like it beter now I've listened some more to this concerto, once it is out of the crates an album tends to land on my turntable more often 
In a previous post I mentioned Sibelius, very unlikely that Saint Saens picked up influences of Sibelius. He was already 30 when Sibelius was born, but who knows how these things work. Obviously Sibelius has many contemporaries 'cause he lived very, very long. But I definitely hear some Mendelssohn-influence in this work. 
Homework for the next day: side by side comparison of these two concerto's !
This is what I like about Talk Classical: I listen more focussed and thoughtful and I rediscover music in my own collection ! 

Cheers,
Jos


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

I heard it for the first time a few months ago (after half a lifetime of classical music listening). I like it. I can't explain why it's so neglected.



csacks said:


> This is just to know your opinion of one of my favorite violin concerts, Saint Säens 3rd. It is underrated and is not recorded often neither considered regularly in programs. Any idea to explain it? (I already asked about the Saint Sáens 3rd, but the symphony. My Alzheimer´s disease is not that advanced yet)
> Thanks in advance and Mary Christmas for all


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

I think the reason it sounds 'familiar' is that gypsy theme at the beginning. Everyone seemed to be poaching gypsy music at the time. All the tricks are saved for the finale and those basses wouldn't sound out of place in a Verdi score.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

This concerto was in vogue in the 1940's and 1950's. To me it now sounds dated and many violinists seem to agree due to its lack of appearances in concert halls these days.


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