Between chickens, elephants and swans there is also the pianist

On to the carnival of the animals.Photo: iStock

Charles Camille Saint-Saëns composed the “Carnival of the Animals” in 1886. But the world premiere only took place after his death – at the request of the author. From the Epoch Times Music series, for lovers.

The Carnival of the Animals was founded by the French pianist, composer and music teacher Charles Composed by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) in Austria in 1886. Here in a version by the Chamber Orchestra of the Music Academy Zagreb / ​​Croatia, recorded at the Croatian Music Institute in 2012.

Danijel Gašparović & Nikola Kosin sind die Solisten an den Klavieren, Marco Graziani und Tvrtko Emanuel Galić an den Violinen, an der Viola Šimun Končić. Weiterhin spielten Smiljan Mrčela (Cello), Jura Herceg (Contrabass), Matej Pavić (Clarinet), Ana Batinica (Flöte) und Špela Mastnak an den Xylophonen.

1. 0:05 – Introduction and Royal March of the Lion
2. 0:34 – Chickens and roosters
3. 2:22 – Wild donkeys: fast animals
4. 3:56 – Turtles
5. 6:35 – The elephant
6. 8:17 – Kangaroos
7. 9:24 – Aquarium
8. 12:04 – Characters with long ears
9. 12:50 – The cuckoo in the depths of the forest
10. 15:34 – Aviary
11. 17:04 – Pianists (Indeed, because animals attract a lot of curious people in zoos – pianists do too).
12. 19:38 – Fossils
13. 21:21 – The Swan
14. 25:23 – Finale

Camille Saint-Saëns used musical motifs and themes from other works, both by himself and by other composers, in some parts of The Carnival of the Animals. For example, the “Cuckoo” movement contains the theme from the third movement of Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 1. The “Elephant” movement also contains a familiar theme: a parody of the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from Tchaikovsky’s ballet ” The Nutcracker”.

This use of quotations from other works was not uncommon in Saint-Saëns’ time. However, he had written the play as a kind of humorous experiment and was concerned that it might not be serious enough to be performed seriously. For this reason he did not allow the public performance of the “Carnival of the Animals” during his lifetime – with the exception of the “Swans” movement. The play was first performed after his death.

In one of the movements, the “Aquarium”, there is an unusual combination of instruments: a glass harmonica, an instrument consisting of glasses that are made to sound with damp fingers. This instrument was very popular in Saint-Saëns’ day but has become very rare today and is usually replaced by another instrument such as a celesta.