The Carnival of the Animals has gone down in history thanks to its originality, and it is a great example of descriptive or programmatic music, which is music that, through the use of compositional elements and musical resources, seeks to evoke “non-musical” images in the listener… in this case, animals, as the title indicates.
Given the way it is conceived, the Carnival is widely used to introduce and bring children—and not only children—closer to the fantastic world of classical music, instruments, and their sounds in an engaging and enjoyable way.
Saint-Saëns wrote it in 1886 to be performed on Carnival Tuesday, as a “grand zoological fantasy” full of parodies, satirical references to famous composers or performers, and jokes. For this reason, he did not want to present it to the public, and it was performed only in private sessions for a circle of close friends, such as Franz Liszt.
What Saint-Saëns did allow was for it to be published posthumously. And just 2 months after his death, in February 1922, the complete work began to be performed, and since then it has become one of his most popular compositions.
Its instrumentation is also very original: it is scored for flute, clarinet, harmonium, xylophone, two pianos, 2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass.
It lasts just over 20 minutes and consists of 14 pieces that refer to different animals. Here you can listen to the complete work in an educational concert for children.
Series Fun Classics: “The Carnival of the Animals”. Sony Auditorium (Madrid) 01/05/2022
Script and presentation: Carmen Domínguez and Sonia Fernández
SAINT-SAËNS, Camille
Le carnaval des animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) for 11 instruments
1. Introduction and Royal March of the Lion
2. Hens and Roosters
3. Wild Asses (Swift Animals), for two pianos
4. Tortoises
5. The Elephant, for double bass and piano
6. Kangaroos, for two pianos
7. Aquarium
8. Personnages à longues oreilles
9. The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods, for clarinet and piano
10. Volières
11. Pianists
12. Fossiles
13. The Swan, for cello and piano
14. Finale
Saint-Saëns Group
Sofía Salazar Sánchez, flute
Pablo Díaz Díaz, clarinet
Zabdiel Hernández Sánchez, violin I
Ana Molina Touza, violin II
Carmen Gragera Salas, viola
Ülker Tümer, cello
Jimena Rodríguez San Miguel, double bass
Nicolás Bourdoncle, piano I
Cristina Sanz Hernán, piano II
