Saint-Saëns: La jeunesse d'Hercule, Op. 50 (with Score)

Camille Saint-Saëns:
La jeunesse d'Hercule (The Youth of Hercules), Op. 50 (with Score)
Compose: 1877
Conductor: Charles Dutoit
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra

For the last of his symphonic poems, in 1877, Saint-Saëns returned to the legend of Hercules. This time he was concerned with the youth of the hero. There is not much of a story but rather the philosophical confrontation encountered by young Hercules, the choice between pleasure and virtue. The work is his most ambitious symphonic poem, and the most Lisztian of them all but sadly, perhaps also the least interesting. The composer depicted the alternative by means of two contrasting themes, one Lisztian and one Schumannesque. The work opens with the strings playing almost inaudibly. The first theme is insinuated, and after a muffled timpani roll, the second one is presented in full, followed by the second. These themes alternate. A pause is followed by a change of mood to a stormy section with oriental suggestions where the first theme also appears. Suddenly the movement stops, and and a homophonic passage on the lower strings announces the return of the second theme, this time imbued of a certain wagnerian nobility. There is a playful reappearance of the second theme but the first one ultimately prevails. The work closes in a very Lisztian triumphant way.