SAINT SAËNS, Camille. Autograph

Title: An invitation for dinner

SAINT SAËNS, Camille.
Autograph signed letter in pencil (to Gabriël Fauré?).
Description: Original autograph letter in pencil signed by the famous French composer, organist, conductor, and pianist Camille Saint Saëns (1835-1921), known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre, Samson and Delilah, and his Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony).
Saint Saëns lost his father, a government clerk, who died three months after his birth. His mother, Clémence de Collin (1809-1888), sought the assistance of her aunt, Charlotte Masson. Masson moved in and introduced Saint-Saëns to the piano. One of the most talented child prodigies of his time, he possessed perfect pitch at two years of age and began piano lessons with his great-aunt at that time. For income, Saint-Saëns played the organ at various churches in Paris, with his first appointment being at the Saint-Merri in the Beaubourg area. In 1857, he replaced Lefébure-Wely at the eminent position of organist at the Église de la Madeleine, which he kept until 1877. His weekly improvisations stunned the Parisian public and earned Liszt's 1866 observation that Saint-Saëns was the greatest organist in the world.
From 1861 to 1865, Saint-Saëns held his only teaching position as professor of piano at the École Niedermeyer. His most successful students at the Niedermeyer were André Messager and Gabriel Fauré, who was Saint-Saëns's favourite pupil and soon his closest friend.

Until his marriage in 1875, Saint Saëns lived with his mother. The present letter is an invitation on behalf of his mother to a close friend (possibly his closest friend and pupil Gabriël Fauré) to have dinner: "Dimanche. Mon cher ami, Ma mère me charge de vous dire qu'elle voudrait bien vous dédommager demain du mauvais dîner que vous avez fait Lundi dernier. Vous seriez bien gentil d'accepter. Tout à vous, C. Saint-Saëns".

Fine letter.