Musical Memories by Saint Saëns is about famous composer Saint Saëns friends and admired acquaintances during his lifetime whose influences have permeated his widely-enjoyed music. Excerpt: "In bygone days I was often told that I had two mothers, and I did have two—the mother who gave me life and my maternal great-aunt, Charlotte Masson. The latter came from an old family of lawyers named Gayard and this relationship makes me a descendant of General Delcambre, one of the heroes of the retreat from Russia. His granddaughter married Count Durrieu of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres."