Violin Sonata No. 1 (Saint-Saëns)

[1] In August 1885, Saint-Saëns wrote to his publisher Durand that he intended to compose a "grand duo for piano and violin" in time for a planned tour of England.

[a] The work was dedicated to Martin Pierre Marsick, a violinist and professor at the Paris Conservatoire, to commemorate their tour of Switzerland.

It was also promoted by pianists including Louis Diémer, Raoul Pugno and Édouard Risler, and by violinists such as Eugène Ysaÿe and Jacques Thibaud.

[4] The work was arranged for cello and piano by Ferdinando Ronchini (1911), and for harp and violin by Clara Eissler (1907).

[3] Jeremy Nicholas has called the first violin sonata a neglected masterpiece, alongside the Septet and the Piano Quartet.