Camille Saint-Saëns composed the ‘Cello Concerto No. 1’ in A minor, Op. 33, in 1872, when he was 37 years old. The concerto has a unique structure, as it consists of one continuous movement with three distinct sections: ‘Allegro non troppo’, ‘Allegretto con moto’ and ‘Tempo primo’. The concerto ends with a brilliant and virtuosic coda for the solo cello.
Saint-Saëns' ‘Cello Concerto No. 1’ is one of the most popular and widely performed cello concertos in the repertoire, and is considered by many composers and musicians to be the greatest of all cello concertos.
Swiss arranger Simon Scheiwiller transcribed this ‘Cello Concerto No.1’ for Cello and Symphonic Band.