#Who composed carnival of the animals full
#Who composed carnival of the animals series

It is a lovely tune which sounds like a swan swimming gracefully along.Īll the instruments join in the Finale which has bits from nearly all the movements.Carnival of the Animals by AJ Mittendorf Released July 2016Ĭarnival of the Animals is a series of fourteen short musical pieces written in 1886 by French composer, Camille Saint-Saëns for small orchestra with two pianos. This is one of the most famous of all tunes for the cello. Saint-Saëns was saying that these tunes were old-fashioned (like fossils). There are bits of other tunes as well: 'Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman' (known in the English-speaking world as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star), the French nursery rhymes 'Au Clair de la Lune' and 'J'ai du bon tabac', the popular anthem Partant pour la Syrie as well as the aria Una Voce Poco Fa from Rossini's Barber of Seville. Saint-Saëns is making a joke about himself, because he uses a tune from one of his own works: the Danse Macabre. The xylophone plays a fast tune which sounds like skeletons playing.

Saint-Saëns makes them seem rather stupid as they practise their scales. This is another joke, because “pianists” are people who play the piano, they are not animals. It sounds like birds flying in an aviary (bird cage). The flute has a very delicate, fast tune accompanied by strings and pianos. Now and again the clarinet plays two notes which sound like the call of the cuckoo. The pianos play gentle chords, like someone walking quietly through a forest. IX: The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods.It is played on two violins which imitate the “hee-haw” sound of the donkey. The “Persons with Long Ears” are actually donkeys. This is very graceful music with the tune played on the flute, accompanied by strings, with occasional glissandi (slides) on the glass harmonica. The two pianos hop about gracefully like kangaroos. This is also a musical joke - the tune is taken from Felix Mendelssohn's Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hector Berlioz's Dance of the Sylphs where it is played on high-soundge In the middle section the elephant tries to dance a waltz. This double bass solo with piano accompaniment makes the elephant sound heavy and clumsy. Saint-Saëns makes a musical joke here: the tune is the same tune as the famous 'Can-Can' from Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, but played very slowly. This movement for strings and piano is very slow, like a tortoise. The two pianos seem to go wild with scales rushing up and down madly. This music sounds like hens clucking (the strings) and a cock crowing (the clarinet). I: Introduction and Royal March of the LionĪfter an introduction the pianos introduce a march theme.

#Who composed carnival of the animals full

Today it is often performed with a full orchestra of strings, and with a glockenspiel instead of a glass harmonica, which is an unusual instrument. Saint-Saëns arranged it for an orchestra consisting of flute doubling piccolo, clarinet (B flat and C), two pianos, glass harmonica, xylophone, two violins, viola, cello and double bass. There are 14 short movements, with a short introduction. It is scored for two pianos, two violins, viola, cello, double bass, Bass clarinet, saxophone, snare drumflute (and piccolo), clarinet (C and B♭), glass harmonica, and xylophone. Following a disastrous concert tour of Germany in 1893, Saint-Saëns withdrew to a small Austrian village, where he composed The Carnival of the Animals in February 1894.