From a theory perspective, what elements are characteristic of Camille Saint-Saen's style?

Question

I listen to things like Suite Algerienne and his 5th piano concerto, and they sound so unlike anything else I've heard before. From a theory perspective, what do you notice about his style that gives him such a distinct sound?

Answer 1

In a comment of this recording cycle

https://utahsymphony.org/explore/2017/10/the-legacy-of-camille-saint-saens/

we can find the following characteristics:

the influences of the composers he most admired, the musical idioms of far-flung destinations, French Romanticism was marked by a preoccupation with drama, a heightened interest in national identity, a general expansion or rejection of existing musical structures, colorful harmony, exotic harmonies and melodic lines into ingrained musical forms.

Saint-Saëns occupied a particularly unique stylistic space in his compositions; bringing the influences of the composers he most admired (Liszt, Wagner, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven, to name a few) as well as the musical idioms of far-flung destinations (including Egypt, Algeria, and Japan) into the sphere of French Romanticism. Similar to the Romantic Movement that took hold in Austria and Germany in the mid-1800s, French Romanticism was marked by a preoccupation with drama on a historical and an individual level, a heightened interest in national identity, and a general expansion or rejection of existing musical structures. As some of his late-19th-century contemporaries were forging new paths at the edges of tonal music, Saint-Saëns was firmly rooted in the classical conventions of French composers before him, making him an unusual figure within the framework of the Romantic period. Despite this, his signature use of colorful harmony influenced the French Impressionist composers that would rise to popularity toward the end of his life. The confluence of these seemingly disparate stylistic attributes is what makes Saint-Saëns’ music so intoxicating and irresistible. He is able to seamlessly weave unusual, exotic harmonies and melodic lines into ingrained musical forms, simultaneously surprising and delighting the listener’s ear.