This article is about Saint-Saëns's 1886 suite. For Christopher Wheeldon's 2003 ballet to Saint-Saëns's music, seeCarnival of the Animals (ballet).
Saint-Saëns circa 1880
The Carnival of the Animals (French:Le Carnaval des animaux) is a humorousmusical suite of 14movements, including "The Swan", by the French composerCamille Saint-Saëns. About 25 minutes long, it was written for private performance by two pianos and chamber ensemble; Saint-Saëns prohibited public performance of the work during his lifetime, feeling that its frivolity would damage his standing as a serious composer. The suite was published in 1922, the year after his death. A public performance that year was greeted with enthusiasm, and it has remained among his most popular works. It is less frequently performed with a full orchestral complement of strings.
After a disastrous concert tour of Germany in 1885–86, Saint-Saëns withdrew to a small Austrian village, where he composedThe Carnival of the Animals in February 1886.[1] From the beginning he regarded the work as a piece of fun. On 9 February 1886 he wrote to his publishers Durand in Paris that he was composing a work for the comingShrove Tuesday, and confessing that he knew he should be working on hisThird Symphony, but that this work was "such fun" ("mais c'est si amusant!"). He had apparently intended to write the work for his students at theÉcole Niedermeyer de Paris,[2] but it was first performed at a private concert given by the cellistCharles Lebouc on 3 March 1886:
Monsieur Lebouc managed to assemble a definitive line-up of eminent performers: Messieurs Saint-Saëns,Diémer,Taffanel,Turban [fr],Maurin, Prioré, de Bailly and Tourcy who, after a very interesting program, took part in the first performance of a very witty fantasy burlesque, composed for this concert by Saint-Saëns and entitled theCarnival of the Animals. This zoological fantasy was received with great enthusiasm.[3]
A second performance was given atÉmile Lemoine's chamber music societyLa Trompette, followed by another at the home ofPauline Viardot with an audience includingFranz Liszt, a friend of the composer, who had expressed a wish to hear the work. There were other performances, typically for the French mid-Lent festival ofMi-Carême. All those performances were semi-private, except for one at the Société des instruments à vent in April 1892, and "often took place with the musicians wearing masks of the heads of the various animals they represented".[3] Saint-Saëns was adamant that the work not be published in his lifetime, seeing it as detracting from his "serious" composer image. He relented only for the famous cello soloThe Swan, the work's penultimate movement, which was published in 1887 in an arrangement by the composer for cello and solo piano (the original uses two pianos).
Saint-Saëns specified in his will that the work should be published posthumously. He died in December 1921 and it was published by Durand in Paris in April 1922; the first public performance was given on 25 February 1922 by theConcerts Colonne, conducted byGabriel Pierné.[4] It was rapturously received.Le Figaro reported:
We cannot describe the cries of admiring joy let loose by an enthusiastic public. In the immense oeuvre of Camille Saint-Saëns,The Carnival of the Animals is certainly one of his magnificent masterpieces. From the first note to the last it is an uninterrupted outpouring of a spirit of the highest and noblest comedy. In every bar, at every point, there are unexpected and irresistible finds. Themes, whimsical ideas, instrumentation compete with buffoonery, grace and science. ... When he likes to joke, the master never forgets that he is the master.[5]
Its first American performance was by the New York Symphony on 24 October, 1922 at The President theater in Washington, DC.[6][7]Walter Damrosch conducted, and later that month he led additional performances by the Symphony in Philadelphia (26 October) and New York (29 October).
The Carnival of the Animals has since become one of Saint-Saëns's best-known works, in the original version for 11 instruments, or more often with the full string section of an orchestra. Frequently aglockenspiel substitutes for the rareglass harmonica.[8][9]
Strings and twopianos: the introduction begins with the pianos playing a bold tremolo, under which the strings enter with a stately theme. The pianos play a pair ofglissandos 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 chromatic scales in octaves which suggest the roar of a lion, or highostinatos. The two groups of instruments switch places, with the pianos playing a higher, softer version of the melody. The movement ends with a fortissimo note from all the instruments used in this movement.
Violins, viola, two pianos and clarinet: this movement is centered around a "pecking" theme played by the pianos and strings, reminiscent of chickens pecking at grain. The clarinet plays a small solo above the strings; the piano plays a very fast theme based on the rooster's crowing cry.
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 figures in octaves. These aredziggetai, donkeys that come from Tibet and are known for their great speed.
Strings and piano: a satirical movement which opens with a piano playing a pulsing triplet figure in the higher register. The strings play a slow rendition of the famous "Galop infernal" (commonly called theCan-can) fromOffenbach's comic operaOrphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld).
Double bass and piano: this section is marked Allegro pomposo, the great 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 the Scherzo fromMendelssohn'sincidental music toA Midsummer Night's Dream andBerlioz's "Dance of the Sylphs" fromThe Damnation of Faust. 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.
Two pianos: the main figure here is a pattern of "hopping" chords (made up of triads in various positions) preceded by grace notes in the right hand. When the chords ascend, they quickly get faster and louder, and when the chords descend, they quickly get slower and softer.
Part of the original manuscript score of "Aquarium". The top staff was written for theglass harmonica.Playⓘ
Violins, viola, cello (string quartet), two pianos, flute, andglass harmonica. The melody is played by the flute, backed by the strings, and glass harmonica on top of sparkling,glissando-like runs and arpeggios in pianos. These figures, plus the occasional glissando from the glass harmonica towards the end—often played oncelesta orglockenspiel—are evocative of a peaceful, dimly lit aquarium.
VIII.Personnages à longues oreilles (Characters with Long Ears)
Two violins: this is the shortest movement. The violins alternate playing high, loud notes and low, buzzing ones (in the manner of a donkey's braying "hee-haw"). Critics have speculated that the movement is meant to compare music critics to braying donkeys.[11]
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; a C and an A♭, mimicking the call of a cuckoo bird. Saint-Saëns writes in the score that the clarinettist should be offstage.
Strings, pianos and flute: the high strings take on a background role, providing a buzz in the background reminiscent of the background noise in a jungle. The cellos and basses play a pickup 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 chromatic scale from the flute.
Strings and two pianos: this humorous movement (satirizing pianists as animals) is a glimpse of what few audiences ever get to see: the pianists practicing their finger exercises and scales. The scales of C, D♭, D and E♭ are covered. Each 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. In some performances, the later, more difficult, scales are deliberately played increasingly out of time. The original edition has an editor's note instructing the players to imitate beginners and their awkwardness.[12] After the four scales, the key changes back to C, and the pianos play a moderate speed trill-like pattern in thirds, in the style ofCharles-Louis Hanon orCarl Czerny, while the strings play a small part underneath. This movement is unusual in that the last three blasted chords do notresolve the piece, but rather lead into the next movement.
Title page to "Fossils" in the manuscript including drawing by the composer
Strings, two pianos, clarinet, and xylophone: here, Saint-Saëns mimics hisDanse macabre, which makes heavy use of the xylophone to evoke skeletons dancing, the bones clacking together to the beat. The musical themes ofDanse macabre are also quoted; the xylophone and strings play much of the melody, alternating with the piano and clarinet. 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 second piano plays the same melody upside down [inversion]), the popular anthem "Partant pour la Syrie", and the aria "Una voce poco fa" fromRossini'sThe Barber of Seville can also be heard. The October 1922 program note for Walter Damrosch's performance with the New York Symphony—he had led the U.S. premiere days earlier—explained the title: "These are well-known tunes of which the composer himself had presumably grown tired."[13] The musical joke in this movement, according toLeonard Bernstein's narration on his [1960s] recording of the work with the New York Philharmonic, is that the musical pieces quoted are the fossils of Saint-Saëns's time.[14]
Two pianos and cello: a slowly moving cello melody (which evokes a swan gliding over water) is played over ripplingsixteenths in one piano and rolled chords in the other.
A staple of the cello repertoire, this is one of the suite's best-known movements, usually in the version for cello with solo piano. It was the only movement of the suite published in Saint-Saëns's lifetime.
A short ballet solo,The Dying Swan, was choreographed in 1905 byMikhail Fokine to this movement and performed byAnna Pavlova, who gave some 4,000 performances of the dance and "swept the world".[15]
Full ensemble: the finale opens on the same trills in the pianos as in the introduction, but soon the wind instruments, theglass harmonica and the xylophone join in. The strings build the tension with a few low notes, leading to glissandi by the piano before the lively main melody is introduced. The Finale is somewhat reminiscent of an American carnival of the 19th century, with one piano always maintaining a bouncyeighth-note rhythm. Although the melody is relatively simple, the supporting harmonies are ornamented in the style typical of Saint-Saëns' piano works—dazzling scales, glissandi, and trills. Many of the previous movements are quoted. The work ends with a series of six "Hee Haws" from the donkeys, as if to say that the donkey has the last laugh, before the final strong group of C major chords.
As the title suggests, the work isprogrammatical andzoological. It progresses from the first movement,Introduction et marche royale du lion, through portraits of elephants and donkeys ("Personages with Long Ears") to a finale reprising many of the earlier motifs.
Several of the movements are of humorous intent:
Poules et coqs uses the theme ofRameau'sharpsichord pieceLa poule ("The Hen") from hisSuite in G major, but in a less elegant mood.[8]
Tortues makes use of the well-known "Galop infernal" fromOffenbach's comic operaOrpheus in the Underworld, playing the usually breakneck-speed melody at a slow, drooping pace.[2][16]
ThePersonnages à longues oreilles section is thought to be directed at music critics: they are also supposedly the last animals heard during the finale, braying.[2][8]
Pianistes depicts piano students labouring over their scales inHanon- andCzerny-style exercises.[8][16]
In 1996, asurf rock cover of "Aquarium" was used as the on-ride soundtrack of the originalSpace Mountain ride layout atDisneyland before its 2005 renovation. It featured guitar riffs byDick Dale.[30]
The finale for the suite was used as music for one of the segments in the 1999Disney film,Fantasia 2000, performed by theChicago Symphony Orchestra. In it, a slapstickflamingo plays with a yo-yo, much to the chagrin of the other flamingoes, who attempt to entice him into doing the same "dull" routine as them. Gail Niwa and Philip Sabransky are the featured pianists in this recording. James Earl Jones introduces the segment, as he is standing next to animatorEric Goldberg, who directed the segment. Jones discusses the "drawing boards [which] have been the birthplace of some of the most beloved animal characters of all time" and how the animation and music combine to answer "that age old question" about the relationship between man and nature. Then, in a comical turn, he is handed a piece of paper and reads "that age old question: What would happen if you gave a yo-yo to a flock of flamingoes?" before asking "Who wrote this?"
Fora ballet to Saint-Saëns's suite, choreographed byChristopher Wheeldon and presented byNew York City Ballet,John Lithgow wrote a narration. The storyline is that a mischievous boy slips away from his teacher during a trip to a museum of natural history and, once the museum is shut, sees all the people he knows transformed into animals. An audio recording was made in 2004 by members of Chamber Music Los Angeles, conducted by Bill Elliot, with the narration spoken by Lithgow.[20]
^ Rebecca Hirsch, Beatrice Harper, violins; Terry Nettle, viola; Jonathan Williams, cello; Rodney Slatford, double bass; Nicholas Vallis-Davies, flute/piccolo; Angela Malsbury, clarinet; Annie Oakley, xylophone; James Strebing, glockenspiel.
^Paul Edmund-Davies (flute), Andrew Marriner (clarinet), Alexander Barantschik and Ashley Arbuckle (violins), Alexander Taylor (viola), Ray Adams (cello), Paul Marrion (double-bass), Ray Northcott (percussion)
^This recording features virtuosoharmonica playerTommy Reilly playing on a mouth organ instead of a glass harmonica. This mistake was noted and acknowledged by music journalistFritz Spiegl in a 1984 dictionary of musical ephemera.[25]
^"Les exécutants devront imiter le jeu d'un débutant et sa gaucherie""Complete full score"(PDF). Paris: Durand & Cie.Archived(PDF) from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved20 July 2012.
^"Grande Fantasie Zoologique" (program note). Symphony Society Bulletin XVI:1 (23 October 1922), 1.
^Bernstein, Leonard (1961)."Carnival of the Animals: XII. Fossils".The Official YouTube Channel for world-renowned musician, composer, conductor, and educator Leonard Bernstein.
^Frankenstein, Alfred,The Carnival of the Animals (liner notes), vol. Capitol SP 8537 and reissued on Seraphim S-60214
