Hyperion Records

Whilst the charming Sarabande is best known as the second movement of the 1863 orchestral Suite, Op 49, an early untitled version for organ or harmonium survives in a manuscript from 1859. It was nonetheless first published in 1877, both in its full version and a four-hand piano arrangement by Guiraud. In 1890 Durand published it in an organ ‘arrangement’ on three staves by Saint-Saëns’ friend Gaston Choisnel, almost certainly made under the composer’s supervision. It later appeared in Échos du monde religieux (1901) and L’Organiste (1911), once again on two staves, under the title Offertoire.

from notes by Andrew-John Smith © 2012