ABSTRACT
While the progress of French music in Britain in the 1860s and ’70s was largely confined to specific genres, the fin-de-siecle decades were characterised by a steadily broadening spectrum of activity, the most significant of which was purposely composed concert music. More than any other reference work, Grove’s Dictionary has shaped anglophone perceptions of music, French works not excepted. Saint-Saens also merited significant praise: ‘He is an excellent contrapuntist, shines in the construction of his orchestral pieces, has a quick ear for picturesqueness of detail. The Musical Standard praised the music but criticised the abstract subject, ‘which is quite outside the ordinary walks of life’, while Henry Lunn argued that Saint-Saens had fallen victim to the malign influences of Wagner and Gounod. Reviewers regularly mentioned ‘silly’ or formulaic plots, excision of risque elements, undistinguished music, the prominence of decoratively dressed female choruses, and expressed perplexity that such works were so popular.
