Knowra The Carnival of the Animals The Carnival of the Animals The Carnival of the Animals is a humorous suite by Camille Saint-Saëns, composed in 1886. Its fourteen short movements portray animals through musical character and imitation.
The Swan : A lyrical cello movement from The Carnival of the Animals, accompanied by two pianos. Its flowing piano figure suggests water beneath the suite’s most famous animal portrait.
Camille Saint-Saëns : A French composer, pianist, and organist whose works include symphonies, concertos, and operas. He composed the suite in 1886 during a period of travel and performance.
Auguste Durand : A French music publisher who led the firm Durand & Cie. He published the suite after Saint-Saëns’s death, following the composer’s restriction on its circulation.
Ballets Russes : A touring ballet company founded by Sergei Diaghilev that operated from 1909 to 1929. The company staged a choreographed version of The Carnival of the Animals in 1919.
Program music : Instrumental music intended to evoke a story, scene, character, or idea beyond musical form alone. The suite is a sequence of musical portraits rather than an abstract instrumental work.
Fossils : A brisk movement in The Carnival of the Animals that quotes and parodies older tunes. Its xylophone and musical quotations turn the movement into a joke about ancient relics.
1886 : A year in the Gregorian calendar, following 1885 and preceding 1887. Saint-Saëns composed The Carnival of the Animals in this year.
Gabriel Pierné : A French composer, organist, and conductor who led major Parisian musical institutions. He conducted the suite’s first public performance in 1922.
The Carnival of the Animals (ballet) : A ballet adaptation of Saint-Saëns’s suite, choreographed by Mikhail Fokine for the Ballets Russes. It turns the suite’s animal portraits into a staged dance work.
Le Carnaval romain : A concert overture by Hector Berlioz inspired by the Roman Carnival and themes from his opera Benvenuto Cellini. Berlioz’s carnival evokes a public festival, while Saint-Saëns’s suite caricatures animals.
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