Studies On Symphonic Poem Of Camille Saint-sa(?)ns

Camille Saint-saens,1835-1921, is one of the most famous and influential composer in the late Romantic period of France. Among his various master pieces, the four symphonic poems, which boast their originality, elegance and flawless technical, were later regard as an important renascence of instrumental compositions during that time. As the embodiment of artistic modernity, Saint-Saens began his musical career as a musical pioneer, introducing France to the program music and championing related symphonic poem at a time when classical was the norm.This thesis was consisted of three chapters. The first chapter focused on the correlations between"Gesamtkunstwerk" and symphony music during the Romantic period of French music. A brief introduction of the evolution from Program music to Symphonic poem was provided along with a investigation on the diverse concept of program music among musicians, such as the "Gesamtkunstwerk" that was put forward by Vagna. Meanwhile, in order to contextualize the study on Saint-saens's works, several symphonies of another two French composers──Belioz and Frank──had been discussed as well. In the second chapter, analysis on Saint-saens's symphony poems has been carried our from three stages:first, the 'eclecticism' concept in his music; the influence of Societe Nationale de Musque on his creation of symphony poems; second,protracting his four symphony poems in terms of (music) composition, mythic themes, character shaping and musical expression. The third chapter summarized the intrinsic stylistics of the four symphony poems . consequently, illuminate their significance in Saint-saens's musical career.