Saint-Saëns: Offertoire

Description

Composed in 1857 in Paris, Saint-Saêns' Offertory for organ and chromatic horn in C Minor remained virtually unknown until now, which can be explained by the fact that the piece is unfinished. While it is not clear why Saint-Saëns never completed Offertory, a providential handwritten note by his friend and published Auguste Durand on the manuscript score informs us that the composer performed it at St Merry's church: "Unfinished, composed for Mr Halary and executed at the organ of S. Merry by the composer." But whether he improvised one last variation without horn or simply stopped on a final chord – we shall never know.

Composed for chromatic horn, i.e. a horn with a particular mechanism, as opposed to the ordinary or ‘natural' horn without valves, still very much in use in France at the time, the unfinished Offertory is structured as a set of variations on the traditional Easter hymn O filii et filiae. Initially written by Jean Tisserand in 1494, this very popular melody inspired several composers throughout music history, including Lebègue, Dandrieu, Charpentier, Cherubini, Liszt and many others.