Charles-Camille Saint-Saens was born in Paris in 1835 to a widowed mother and her aunt, who introduced him to the piano and gave him his first lessons.¹⁾

The child was a real genius, with perfect pitch at the age of two. At the age of five, he delivered his first public concert, accompanying a Beethoven violin sonata on the piano.²⁾

The name Saint-Saens is pronounced 'San-Sohn(ce),' with a suggestion of an's' at the end.³⁾

Saint-Saens, a young man, studied organ and composition at the Conservatoire de Paris. He won several awards and was finally introduced to Franz Liszt, who became one of his closest friends and supporters. Saint-Saens was dubbed “the best organist in the world” by Franz Liszt.⁴⁾

The composer's brilliant mind was not restricted to music. He was fascinated by - and knowledgeable about - geology, botany, butterflies, and mathematics. He enjoyed talks with Europe's top scientists and authored a number of scholarly works on acoustics.⁵⁾

Saint-Sans married Marie Laure Emile Truffot, who was just 19 years old, while he was approaching the age of 40. They had two boys, both of whom died within six weeks of each other, the first from sickness and the second from a fall from a window. Saint- Saens, who blamed his wife for the disaster, abandoned her. They never formally divorced.⁶⁾

Saint-Saens was 51 years old when he composed two of his most renowned pieces, The Carnival of the Animals and Symphony No. 3 'Organ,' both of which were dedicated to Liszt, who died later that year. The Organ Symphony is most known for serving as the main theme in the 1995 picture Babe and its sequel, Babe: Pig in the City.⁷⁾

The Royal Philharmonic Society in the United Kingdom commissioned the Organ Symphony, and Saint-Saens traveled across the Channel to conduct its debut in the ancient St. James's Hall.⁸⁾