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Saint-Saëns was born in Paris . He was one of the most precocious musicians ever, beginning piano lessons with his aunt at two-and-a-half and composing his first work at three. At age seven he studied composition with Pierre Maledin.
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When he was ten, he gave a concert that included Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, Mozart's B flat Concerto, K. 460, along with works by Bach, Handel.
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He entered the Paris Conservatory and studied organ and composition, the latter with Halévy. By his early twenties, following the composition of two symphonies, he had won the admiration and support of Berlioz, Liszt, Gounod, Rossini.
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From 1853 to 1876, he held church organist posts; he also taught at the École Niedermeyer (1861-1865). He composed much throughout his early years, turning out the 1853 Symphony in F ("Urbs Roma"), a Mass (1855) and several concertos.
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In 1875, Saint-Saëns married the 19-year-old Marie Truffot, bringing on perhaps the saddest chapter in his life. This dark period in his life produced some of his most popular works, including Danse macabre (1875) and Samson et Dalila (1878).
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In 1886, Saint-Saëns completed The Carnival of the Animals, which was first performed privately on 9 March.
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He remained very close to his mother, who had opposed his marriage. When she died in 1888, the composer fell into a deep depression.He developed an interest in Algeria and Egypt-write Africa (1891) and his Piano Concerto No. 5, the "Egyptian".
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Curiously, after 1890, Saint-Saëns' music was regarded with some condescension in his homeland, while in England and the United States he was hailed as France's greatest living composer well into the twentieth century.
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Saint-Saëns experienced an especially triumphant concert tour when he visited the U.S. in 1915. In the last two decades of his life, he remained attached to his dogs and was largely a loner.
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He died in Algeria on December 16, 1921
