Title page of manuscript of “Fossils”, no. Fossils (Paris Conservatoire Orchestra Georges Prêtre, cond.) Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals – XI. The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods (Paris Conservatoire Orchestra Georges Prêtre, cond.) Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals – VIII. … When he likes to joke, the master never forgets that he is the master.” Themes, whimsical ideas, instrumentation compete with buffoonery, grace and science. In every bar, at every point, there are unexpected and irresistible finds. From the first note to the last it is an uninterrupted outpouring of a spirit of the highest and noblest comedy. In the immense oeuvre of Camille Saint-Saëns, The Carnival of the Animals is certainly one of his magnificent masterpieces. The newspaper “Le Figaro” reported, “We cannot describe the cries of admiring joy let loose by an enthusiastic public. As such, it was first printed by Durand in Paris in April 1922 and rapturously received. In fact Saint-Saëns specified in his will that the work should only be published after his death. For that occasion, Saint-Saëns fashioned an arrangement for cello and solo piano relying on his original score for two pianos. He was adamant that the work would not be published in his lifetime, and initially only allowed “The Swan” to be published in 1887. Aquarium (Paris Conservatoire Orchestra Georges Prêtre, cond.)ĭespite its overwhelming success, Saint-Saëns was concerned that his whimsical animal miniatures, full of delightful jokes, might hamper his public image of being a matured and serious composer. Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals – VII. Kangaroos (Paris Conservatoire Orchestra Georges Prêtre, cond.) Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals – IV. 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.” There were other performances, typically for the French mid-Lent festival of Mi-Carême. This zoological fantasy was received with great enthusiasm.” Only a couple of days later, a second performance was given at Émile Lemoine’s chamber music society La Trompette, followed by another at the home of Pauline Viardot with an audience including Franz Liszt, a friend of the composer, who had expressed a wish to hear the work. Alternative Cor anglais part for The Swan also provided.A critic and eyewitness reports, “Monsieur Lebouc managed to assemble a definitive line-up of eminent performers: Messieurs Saint-Saëns, Diémer, Taffanel, Turban, 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 the Carnival of the Animals. Audiences will be charmed and there’s great educational value too. Here Carnival is transcribed in full (without poems) in an arrangement for wind quintet and piano. The American writer Ogden Nash has written a series of accompanying poems that can be recited prior to each movement. In Fossils he self-quotes Danse Macabre as well as throwing in a couple of nursery rhymes (including Twinkle, twinkle little star) and a snippet from Rossini’s Barber of Seville.Ĭarnival was originally scored for a chamber ensemble of 11 players including two pianos and a glass harmonica. Offenbach’s Can-Can appears at an almost unrecognisably slow tempo in Tortoises whilst music by Berlioz is quoted in The Elephant. To great effect he demonstrates a marked penchant for borrowing music. Luckily for us he did authorise posthumous publication and, despite Saint-Saëns’ misgivings about the piece, his kudos is still intact even though Carnival is probably his best-known work!Ĭarnival – a “Grand Zoological Fantasy” – is a 14-part work in which lions, hens, wild asses, tortoises, an elephant, kangaroos, fish in an aquarium, donkeys (or, as he puts it ‘personages with long ears’), a cuckoo, birds in an aviary, pianists (in a zoo?), fossils and a swan are musically portrayed. He had already achieved considerable fame throughout his native France and Europe and, concerned to maintain his reputation as a serious composer, save for The Swan, he allowed only one public performance of the Carnival in his lifetime. Camille Saint-Saëns wrote The Carnival of the Animals essentially for fun, whilst on holiday in Austria in 1886.
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