Saint-Saëns: Septuor & Quintette pour piano et cordes

The young Camille Saint-Saëns, barely twenty, composed in 1855 the first piano quintet of importance in French music history. Long the poor cousin of music in France compared to the German world, chamber music truly expanded from the 1850s through the impetus of Saint-Saëns whose first attempt was a true master stroke. Performed by the Groupe instrumental de Paris (featuring such figures as Jean Laforge and Bruno Pasquier), it is coupled with the famous septet with trumpet.