This week I’ll be experiencing a piece I’ve never even heard of until this morning. There seems to be a lack of information about the piece online, and I have not been able to even a few introductory bits of information. Camille Saint-Saëns wrote Africa in 1891, and that’s about all I know. The rest will have to come from the primary source.
First Impressions
So, I’ve returned to my office from a three day weekend, and have been looking forward to listening for the first time. Upon hearing the first few measures, I felt very strongly that I was familiar with the opening theme. It’s fairly generic in nature, but there’s something about it that seems very familiar. It could be that it was someone’s figure skating routine, or appeared in a commercial. Or Camille ripped off someone else. Or possibly it was a track which starts up after another track in a playlist somewhere. Anyway, I hope I might remember where I’ve heard it before at some point.
I loved noticing the Danse Macabre-reminiscent harmonies at rehearsal figure 3.
Ponder Points
I am a bit stymied by the Eastern-flavored melody which is very prominent in this piece (rehearsal figures 11 and 16). It does nothing to remind me of Africa in the traditional west-meets-Africa art music of today. I suppose north African music might use these harmonies and modes, but I’d be interested to find out what Saint-Saëns was influenced by and what his inspiration was in creating this piece.