On the Seventh Day of Christmas - A Christmas Oratorio by Camille Saint-Saens

Camille Saint-Saëns was considered by many to be a symphony composer and virtuoso pianist. As he grew older, he came to resent the French public’s interest in impressionism and other new musical movements. He denounced radical musicians like Stravinsky, and Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun provoked him to remark: “I'd soon lose my voice, if I went round witlessly bawling like a faun celebrating his afternoon.”  Don’t you love that?!

He had numerous interests, not all of them musical. Saint-Saens was a prolific writer; he penned books, letters, articles, even poems and plays in addition to his many successful musical works. He travelled the world. Saint-Saens was witty, argumentative, and passionate about experiencing all life had to offer. He died from complications of pneumonia in 1921 while visiting Algiers, at the ripe old age of 86.

Here is a portion of the Oratorio de Noel written in 1858 when Saint-Saens was only 23 years old.

Love One Another - Brian

PS - As John Duns Scotus put it, “Christ was the first idea in the mind of God!”