Société Nationale de Musique
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) was born in Paris and admitted to the Paris Conservatory when he was thirteen. When he finished the Conservatory, he became organist at the church of Saint-Merri, and later at La Madeleine. His most famous works included the "Danse Macabre", the opera "Samson et Dalila" (1877), the "Carnival of the Animals" (1877), and his Symphony No. 3 (1886). On 25 February 1871, he co-founded the Société Nationale de Musique with Romain Bussine to promote French contemporary and chamber music. His students included Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré, two of the foremost French composers of the late 19th- and early 20th centuries.