The Carnival of the Animals

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For Christopher Wheeldon's ballet, see Carnival of the Animals (ballet).

Le Carnaval des Animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) is a musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns.

Contents

[edit] History

Le Carnaval was composed in February 1886 while Saint-Saëns was vacationing in a small Austrian village. It was originally scored for a chamber group of flute/piccolo, clarinet(B flat and C), two pianos, glass harmonica, xylophone, two violins, viola, cello and double bass, but is usually performed today with a full orchestra of strings, and with a glockenspiel substituting for the rare glass harmonica.

Saint-Saëns, apparently concerned that the piece was too frivolous and likely to harm his reputation as a serious composer, suppressed performances of it and only allowed one movement, Le Cygne, to be published in his lifetime. Only small private performances were given for close friends like Franz Liszt.

Saint-Saëns did, however, include a provision which allowed the suite to be published after his death, and it has since become one of his most popular works. It is a favorite of music teachers and young children, along with Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. In fact, it is very common to see any combination of these three works together on modern CD recordings - a handy tool for class work.

[edit] Movements

A typical performance lasts about 20-25 minutes. There are fourteen movements:

I- Introduction et marche royale du Lion (Introduction and Royal March of the Lion)

Strings and two pianos: The introduction begins with the pianos playing a bold tremolo, under which the strings enter with a stately theme. The pianos play a pair of scales going in opposite directions to conclude the first part of the movement. The pianos then introduce a march theme that they carry through most of the rest of the introduction. The strings provide the melody, with the pianos occasionally taking low runs of octaves which suggest the roar of a lion, or high ostinatos. The movement ends with a fortissimo note from all the instruments used in this movement.

II- Poules et Coqs (Hens and Roosters)

Strings without double-bass, two pianos, with clarinet: This movement is centered around a pecking theme played in the pianos and strings, which is quite reminiscent of chickens pecking at grain. The clarinet plays small solos above the rest of the players at intervals.

III- Hémiones (animaux véloces) (Wild Asses; quick animals)

Two pianos: The animals depicted here are quite obviously running, an image induced by the constant, feverishly fast up-and-down motion of both pianos playing scales in octaves.

IV- Tortues (Tortoises)

Strings and piano: A slightly satirical movement which opens with a piano playing a pulsing triplet figure in the higher register. The strings play a maddeningly slow rendition of the famous 'Can-Can' from Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, as mentioned below.

V- L'Éléphant (The Elephant)

Double-bass and piano: This section is marked Allegro Pomposo, the perfect caricature for an elephant. The piano plays a waltz-like triplet figure while the bass hums the melody beneath it. Like "Tortues," this is also a musical joke - the thematic material is taken from Felix Mendelssohn's Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hector Berlioz's Dance of the Sylphs. The two themes were both originally written for high, lighter-toned instruments (flute and various other woodwinds, and violin, accordingly); the joke is that Saint-Saëns moves this to the lowest and heaviest-sounding instrument in the orchestra, the double bass.

VI- Kangourous (Kangaroos)

Two pianos: The main figure here is a pattern of 'hopping' fifths preceded by grace notes

VII- Aquarium

Strings without double-bass, two pianos, flute, and glass harmonica: This is one of the more musically rich movements. The melody is played by the flute, backed by the strings, on top of tumultuous, glissando like runs in the piano. The first piano plays a descending ten-on-one ostinato, while the second plays a six-on-one. These figures, plus the occasional glissando from the harmonica—often played on celesta or glockenspiel—are evocative of a peaceful, dimly-lit aquarium.

VIII- Personnages à longues oreilles (Characters with Long Ears)

Two violins: This is surely the least lyrical of the pieces; the violins alternate playing high, shrill screeches and low, buzzing notes (in the manner of a donkey's braying "hee-haw") that can hardly be considered melodious.

IX- Le coucou au fond des bois (The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods)

Two pianos and clarinet: The pianos play large, soft chords while the clarinet plays a single two-note ostinato, over and over; a C and an A flat, mimicking the call of a cuckoo bird.

X- Volière (Aviary)

Strings, piano, and flute: The high strings take on a background role, providing a buzz in the background that is reminiscent of the background noise of a jungle. The cellos and basses play a pick up cadence to lead into most of the measures. The flute takes the part of the bird, with a trilling tune that spans much of its range. The pianos provide occasional pings and trills of other birds in the background. The movement ends very quietly after a long ascending scale from the flute.

XI- Pianistes (Pianists)

Strings and two pianos: This movement is a glimpse of what few audiences ever get to see: the pianists practicing their scales. The scales of C, D flat, D and E flat are covered. Each one starts with a trill on the first and second note, then proceeds in scales with a few changes in the rhythm. Transitions between keys are accomplished with a blasting chord from all the instruments between scales. After the four scales, the key changes back to C, where the pianos play a trill-like pattern in thirds while the strings play a small part underneath. This movement is unusual in that the last three blasted chords do not resolve the piece, but rather lead into the next movement, with a pattern similar to the chords that lead from the second to the third movements of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3.

XII- Fossiles (Fossils)

Strings, two pianos, clarinet, and xylophone: Here, Saint-Saëns mimics his own composition, the Danse Macabre, which makes heavy use of the xylophone to evoke the image of skeletons dancing, the bones clacking together to the beat. The musical themes from Danse Macabre are also quoted; the xylophone plays much of the melody, alternating with the piano and clarinet. The piano part is especially difficult here - octaves that jump in quick thirds. Allusions to "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" (better 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 can also be heard.

XIII- Le Cygne (The Swan)

Two pianos and cello: This is by far the most famous movement of the suite, often performed solo and is used to showcase the interpretive skills of the cellist. The lushly romantic cello solo (which evokes the swan elegantly gliding over the water) is played over rippling sixteenths in one piano and rolled chords in the other (representing the swan's feet, hidden from view beneath the water, propelling it along).

The Swan

From The Carnival of the Animals. Performed by John Mitchel
Problems listening to the file? See media help.
XIV- Finale

Full ensemble: The Finale opens on the same tremolo notes in the pianos as in the introduction, which are soon reinforced by the wind instruments, the harmonica and the xylophone. The strings build the tension with a few low notes, leading to glissandi by the piano, then a pause before the lively main melody is introduced. This movement is somewhat reminiscent of an American carnival from the middle of the twentieth century, with one piano always maintaining a bouncy eighth note rhythm. Although the melody is relatively simple, the supporting harmonies are ornamented in the style that is typical of Saint-Saëns' compositions for piano; dazzling scales, glissandi and trills. Many of the previous movements are quoted here from the introduction, the asses, hens, and kangaroos. The work ends with a strong group of C major chords.

[edit] Musical References

As the title suggests, the work follows a zoological program and progresses from the first movement, Introduction et marche royale du Lion, through portraits of elephants and donkeys ("Those with Long Ears") to a finale reprising many of the earlier motifs.

Several of the movements are of humorous intent:

[edit] Cultural References

The ballet The Dying Swan is choreographed to the Swan section.

Ogden Nash wrote a set of humorous verses to accompany each movement, which are often recited when the work is performed. The conclusion of the verse for the "Fossils", for example, fits perfectly with the punchline-like first bar of the music:

At midnight in the museum hall
The fossils gathered for a ball
There were no drums or saxophones,
But just the clatter of their bones,
A rolling, rattling, carefree circus
Of mammoth polkas and mazurkas.
Pterodactyls and brontosauruses
Sang ghostly prehistoric choruses.
Amid the mastodontic wassail
I caught the eye of one small fossil.
Cheer up, sad world, he said, and winked-
It's kind of fun to be extinct.

In 1949, Noel Coward made what is considered the classic recording of "Carnival of the Animals", reading Ogden Nash's specially written verses, and accompanied by Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra playing Camille Saint-Saëns' music.

Throughout the long-running Carry On Films, the elephant was used as the signature tune for the characters played by Hattie Jacques, when they first appeared on screen.

In 1976, Warner Brothers produced a television special directed by Chuck Jones featuring an abridged version of The Carnival of the Animals with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck playing the dual pianos (it opens with Bugs and Daffy arguing over the pronunciation of the composer's name--Camille Saint-Saëns [Bugs] or Camel Saynt Saynes [Daffy]). The live-action orchestra is conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. "The Turtle", "The Mule", "The Cuckoo", "The Pianists" and "The Swan" are omitted, and the verse for "The Mule" is tacked onto the verse for "The Jackass".

In 1992, Dove Audio released an all-star cast recording (Dove 30560 {cassette}/30700 {CD}) performed by the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra conducted by Lalo Schifrin:

{In a special Dove's Kids Children's release (Dove 30550), Arte Johnson was replaced by Fred Savage.)

Part of the proceeds from the sale of this recording were contributed to Actors and Others for Animals, American Oceans Campaign, American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other charities.

In 1999, Walt Disney Feature Animation incorporated the Finale into Fantasia 2000. In the film, a flock of flamingos (the Snooty Six) is annoyed by another flamingo playing with a yo-yo and attempt to make him do the routines they do every day. The music was recorded by James Levine conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Aquarium is used as the opening and closing theme in the 1992 film documentary, Visions of Light.

A surf-rock version of Aquarium covered by Dick Dale was used as the theme song of the Space Mountain roller coaster at Disneyland in California from 1996 to 2003. This same version was featured in the game Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour

The Swan is used in the 2005 film My Summer of Love by P. Pawlikowski. Tamsin performs it on her cello when Mona visits her house for the first time.

Aquarium is featured in the trailers for the 2006 film Charlotte's Web and the 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and appears to be one of the influences on the main theme in Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It is also the opening theme music to the 1978 film Days of Heaven(Weirdly both Aquarium and Days of Heaven soundtrack have both appeared within two mintues of each other on a Ren and Stimpy episode. In the Simpsons episode "The Wife Aquatic", the music is played throughout.

Australian/British classical crossover string quartet Bond remade a version of the Aquarium movement on their album Born, although Camille Saint-Saëns is uncredited[1].

In Crash Tag Team Racing, "Aquarium" is played in the Once Upon A Tire track when the player character is losing.

[edit] External links