A Monument

The literature on Saint-Saëns's Third, often called the “Organ Symphony” on account of that instrument's prominent role, usually traces its origins to London. There, the directors of the Royal Philharmonic Society, the august organization that had commissioned Beethoven's Ninth and Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, met on July 4, 1885, and moved to solicit a new orchestral work from a leading French composer. Gounod was their first choice; if he refused, they would extend the offer to Delibes, Massenet, or “St. Saëns.” It remains unclear what became of these petitions, but the society eventually invited Saint-Saëns to perform a piano concerto of his choice during the 1886 season. He accepted (selecting Beethoven's Fourth) and requested that the program also include his A-Minor Symphony, diplomatically adding “it is not my habit to ask for the execution of my works in this manner, and if I make this exception, it is because I know the great merit of the Philharmonic Society and its orchestra.” The society, in turn, propositioned Saint-Saëns to compose “some symphonic work expressly for next season.” He agreed, with a promise “to make every effort to … write a new symphony for the Philharmonic Society.” Letters to the society's secretary, Francesco Berger, and to Saint-Saëns's publisher Durand indicate that work on the symphony progressed through the early months of the following year, and the completed autograph score bears the date “April 1886”.