Camille Saint-Saëns in the context of "Danse macabre (Saint-Saëns)"

Praxiteles (/prækˈsɪtɪliːz/; Greek: Πραξιτέλης) of Athens, the son of Cephisodotus the Elder, was the most renowned of the Attic sculptors of the 4th century BC. He was the first to sculpt the nude female form in a life-size statue. While no indubitably attributable sculpture by Praxiteles is extant, numerous copies of his works have survived; several authors, including Pliny the Elder, wrote of his works; and coins engraved with silhouettes of his various famous statuary types from the period still exist.

A supposed relationship between Praxiteles and his beautiful model, the Thespian courtesan Phryne, has inspired speculation and interpretation in works of art ranging from painting (Gérôme) to comic opera (Saint-Saëns) to shadow play (Donnay).

Phryné is an 1893 opéra comique in 2 acts by Camille Saint-Saëns to a libretto by Lucien Augé de Lassus, based on the life of ancient Greek courtesan Phryne. The role of Phryne was initiated by Sibyl Sanderson.

The Petite Suite is a suite of seven piano pieces, written by Alexander Borodin, and acknowledged as his major work for the piano. It was published in 1885, although some of the pieces had been written as far back as the late 1870s. After Borodin's death, Alexander Glazunov orchestrated the work, and added his orchestration of another of Borodin's pieces as an eighth number.

The suite was dedicated to the Belgian Countess Louise de Mercy-Argenteau, who had been instrumental in having Borodin's First Symphony performed in Verviers and Liège. She had also arranged for French translations of some of his songs and excerpts from Prince Igor; and had initiated the sponsorship of Camille Saint-Saëns and Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray for Borodin's membership of the French Society of Authors, Composers and Editors.

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 23 by Edward MacDowell was completed in late 1885. Although some obvious similarities with Edvard Grieg's, Camille Saint-Saëns's and Franz Liszt's concertos have often been stated, MacDowell’s composition proves to be quite original, at least compared to his First Concerto. It was the first major piano concerto written by an American. It was also the only large-scale composition by MacDowell to remain in standard repertoire.

The Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, was completed by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1886 at the peak of his artistic career. It is popularly known as the Organ Symphony, since, unusually for a symphony of the late-Romantic period, two of the four movements use the pipe organ. The composer inscribed it as: Symphonie No. 3 "avec orgue" (with organ).

The symphony was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society (then called simply the Philharmonic Society) in England, and the first performance was given in London on 19 May 1886, at St James's Hall, conducted by the composer. After the death of his friend and mentor Franz Liszt on 31 July 1886, Saint-Saëns dedicated the work to Liszt's memory.

The Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor (French: Introduction et Rondo capriccioso), Op. 28, is a composition for violin and orchestra written in 1863 by Camille Saint-Saëns. It was dedicated to the virtuoso violinist Pablo de Sarasate, who performed the solo violin part at the premiere in April 1867.

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 by Camille Saint-Saëns was composed in 1868 and is probably Saint-Saëns' most popular piano concerto. It was dedicated to Madame A. de Villers (née de Haber). At the première on 13 May the composer was the soloist and Anton Rubinstein conducted the orchestra. Saint-Saëns wrote the concerto in three weeks and had very little time to prepare for the première; consequently, the piece was not initially successful. The capricious changes in style provoked Zygmunt Stojowski to quip that it "begins with Bach and ends with Offenbach."

Camille Saint-Saëns composed his Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33, in 1872, when he was 37 years old. He wrote this work for the French cellist, viola da gamba player and instrument maker Auguste Tolbecque. Tolbecque was part of a distinguished family of musicians closely associated with the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, France's leading concert society. The concerto was first performed on January 19, 1873, at the Paris Conservatoire concert with Tolbecque as soloist. This was considered a mark of Saint-Saëns' growing acceptance by the French musical establishment.

Sir Donald Francis Tovey later wrote "Here, for once, is a violoncello concerto in which the solo instrument displays every register without the slightest difficulty in penetrating the orchestra." Many composers, including Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff, considered this concerto to be the greatest of all cello concertos. Yo-Yo Ma's recording of five "Great Cello Concertos" includes Dvořák's, Elgar's, Haydn's 2nd, Saint-Saëns' first, and Schumann's.