It is said that Saint-Saëns was moved to write the main theme of his Havanaise by the crackling open fire at a hotel, while on tour in autumn 1885 with its subsequent dedicatee Rafael Diaz Albertini. We do not know whether, when writing the composition two years later, the Habanera (French Havanaise) with its typical two beat dance rhythms was an allusion to the Cuban origin of his violinist friend. At any rate, the composition was extremely well received from the very beginning both in its original form as well as in the orchestral version. Ingolf Turban kindly provided the bowings for the virtuoso violin part.
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Preface
In the autumn of 1885, Camille SaintSaëns (1835 –1921) undertook a concert tour through northern France, Belgium and Germany with his friend, the young violinist Rafael Diaz Albertini (1857–1928). According to his biographer Jean Bonnerot, the composer obtained the inspiration for the principal theme of the Havanaise for violin and piano or orchestra from the crackling of … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer

Camille Saint-Saëns
Saint-Saëns was one of the most multifaceted musicians of the second half of the nineteenth century in France. Regarded as a Classicist, he also wrote pieces with an Impressionist character to their sound, and one composition in quarter-tones. As a critic and essayist he was involved in the first complete editions of Rameau’s and Gluck’s works.
1835 | Born in Paris on October 9. Early comprehensive education. |
1848–52 | Studies at the Conservatoire de Paris. |
1853 | Organist at St. Merry Church in Paris. |
1853–59 | First large-scale works: Symphony No. 1, Op. 2 (1853), and No. 2, Op. 55 (1859); Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 17 (1858); Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 20 (1859); Mass, Op. 4 (1856); he attempts to arrive at unique forms. |
1857–77 | Organist at La Madeleine in Paris. |
1861–65 | He teaches at the École de Musique Classique et Religieuse Niedermeyer. |
1871 | Founding of the Société Nationale de musique. |
1871–77 | Composition of symphonic poems “Le rouet d’Omphale” (“The Wheel of Omphale,” 1871), “Phaéton” (1873), “Danse macabre” (1874), “La jeunesse d’Hercule” (1877). |
1876 | Attends the performance of the Ring in Bayreuth. |
1877 | Performance in Weimar of his opera “Samson et Dalila.” |
1881 | Member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. |
1883 | Performance in Paris of his opera “Henry VIII.” |
1885 | Publication of the treatise “Harmonie et mélodie.” |
1886 | Performance in London of his Organ Symphony (Symphony No. 3 in C minor): major work with thematic transformation after Liszt’s model. Composition of “The Carnival of the Animals,” the publication of which he forbade during his lifetime. |
1899 | Publication of the book “Portraits et souvenirs.” |
1900 | Cantata “Le feu celeste” in praise of electricity, for the opening of the Exposition Universelle. |
1921 | Death in Algiers on December 16. |