Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 119 (Urtext Edition, modern clefs)

Camille Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 119, is one of the most demanding major concertos in the cello repertoire. Composed near the end of his career, the work shows Saint-Saëns at his most sophisticated: brilliant, tightly constructed, technically formidable, and full of the elegance and clarity that define his mature style. Less frequently performed than the famous Cello Concerto No. 1, the Second Concerto deserves renewed attention as one of the great French Romantic works for cello and orchestra.

The original solo cello part was published using a grand staff, an unusual layout that can make the part cumbersome for modern cellists to read. The present edition is the first publication to remove the grand staff from the solo cello part and present the music on a conventional single staff using standard modern clefs. This makes the concerto far more practical for study and performance while preserving the musical text.

The solo part is based on Saint-Saëns’s autograph manuscript, the orchestral score published in Paris by Durand & Fils in January 1903, plate D. & F. 6190, and the solo part published by Durand in December 1902, plate D. & F. 6188. The piano reduction is Saint-Saëns’s own, as published by Durand in December 1902, plate D. & F. 6188. Textual variants are noted in the footnotes.

This purchase includes both the piano score and solo cello part.

Best suited for advanced cellists, this edition offers a practical, source-based approach to one of the most challenging concertos in the repertoire. It is especially useful for serious study, lessons, auditions, competitions, and performance preparation, giving cellists opportunities to develop virtuoso technique, endurance, lyrical refinement, rapid passagework, high-register clarity, and command of Saint-Saëns’s brilliant French style.

ASTA level: 6