' When such a time cometli,
I do retire
Into an old room
Beside a bright fire; 0 pile a bright fire !
And there I sit
Reading old things
Of knights and lorn damsels, While the wind sings-0 drearily sings ! '
—Edward Fitzgerald
THIS is a brilliant piece, one of the things that
Saint -Saëns, who was never, perhaps, very deep, but generally elegant and melodious, could do so well. The description ' for Piano, with accompaniment for Stringed Instruments,' is rather unusual. The Piano is evidently regarded as the senior partner, and certainly leads the Strings a lively dance.
From the title we guess that the piece was written as a festive marriage-souvenir.