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Saint-Saëns

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) could read music at two and composed his first piece at three, making his public debut at ten with Beethoven and Mozart concertos offered as encores. He was still performing publicly at eighty-six. Between these extremes he produced the Organ Symphony, Samson and Delilah, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and the Carnival of the Animals, which he refused to publish during his lifetime for fear it would undermine his reputation as a serious composer. Only The Swan was permitted in public; the rest of the suite appeared after his death.

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