The Carnival of Animals ♫

First... let me introduce the composer~~

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns 9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921

 A French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist.

Now... the song!!!

Le carnaval des animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) is a musical suite of fourteen movements. The orchestral work has a duration between 22 and 30 minutes.

History

Composed in February 1886 while Saint-Saëns was vacationing in a small Austrian village. It was originally scored for a chamber group of flute/piccolo, clarinet (B flat and C), two pianos, glass harmonica, xylophone, two violins, viola, cello and double bass, but is usually performed today with a full orchestra of strings, and with a glockenspiel substituting for the rare glass harmonica. The term for this rare 11-piece musical ensemble is a "hendectet" or a "undectet." The suite to be published after his death. It was first performed on 26 February 1922, and it has since become one of his most popular works.

Movements

I Introduction et marche royale du lion (Introduction and Royal March of the Lion)

A minor . Andante maestoso - Allegro non troppo - piu allegro . 71th bars .  ⁴⁴ 

Strings and two pianos: The introduction begins with the pianos playing a bold tremolo, under which the strings enter with a stately theme. The pianos play a pair of scales 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 runs of octaves which suggest the roar of a lion, or high ostinatos. The movement ends with a fortissimo note from all the instruments used in this movement.

II Poules et coqs (Hens and Roosters)

C major . Allegro moderato . 35th bars . ⁴⁴

Strings without cello and double-bass, two pianos, with clarinet: This movement is centered around a pecking theme played in the pianos and strings, which is quite reminiscent of chickens pecking at grain. The clarinet plays small solos above the rest of the players at intervals. The piano plays a theme based on the crowing of a rooster's Cock a Doodle Doo.

III Hémiones (animaux véloces) (Wild Asses; quick animals)

C minor . presto furioso . 28th bars . ⁴⁴

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 scales in octaves. These are Asses that come from Tibet, which are known for their great speed.

IV Tortues (Tortoises)

B♭ major . Andante maestoso . 22nd bars .  ⁴⁴

Strings and piano: A slightly satirical movement which opens with a piano playing a pulsing triplet figure in the higher register. The strings play a maddeningly slow rendition of the famous 'Galop infernal' from Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld.

V L'éléphant (The Elephant)

E♭ major . Allegretto pomposo . 52nd bars . ³⁸

Double-bass and piano: The perfect 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 from Mendelssohn's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream and Berlioz's "Dance of the Sylphs" from The 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. On the track "Effervescing Elephant", recorded by Syd Barretton his final solo album Barrett, the opening coda of "The Elephant" can be heard played on tuba.

VI Kangourous (Kangaroos)

C minor . Moderato . 20th bars .  ^34 44

Two pianos: The main figure here is a pattern of 'hopping' fifths preceded by grace notes.

VII Aquarium (nice! just like water flows...)

A minor . Andantino . 39th bars . ⁴⁴

Strings without double-bass, two pianos, flute, and glass harmonica: This is one of the more musically rich movements. The melody is played by the flute, backed by the strings, on top of tumultuous, glissando-like runs in the piano. The first piano plays a descending ten-on-one ostinato, in the style of the second of Chopin's études, while the second plays a six-on-one. These figures, plus the occasional glissando from the glass harmonica — often played on celesta or glockenspiel—are evocative of a peaceful, dimly-lit aquarium.

VIII Personnages à longues oreilles (Characters with Long Ears)

C major . Tempo ad lib . 26th bars . ³⁴

Two violins: This is the shortest of all the movements. The violins alternate playing high, loud notes and low, buzzing ones (in the manner of a donkey's braying "hee-haw"). Music critics have speculated that the movement is meant to compare music critics to braying donkeys.

IX Le coucou au fond des bois (The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods)

E major . Andante . 43rd bars . ³⁴

Two pianos and clarinet: The pianos play large, soft chords while the clarinet plays a single two-note ostinato, over and over; a C and an A flat, mimicking the call of a cuckoo bird. Saint-Saens states in the original score that the clarinetist should be offstage.

X Volière (Aviary)

F major . Moderato grazioso . 31st bars . ³⁴

Strings, piano and flute: The high strings take on a background role, providing a buzz in the background that is reminiscent of the background noise of a jungle. The cellos and basses play a pick up 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 ping and trills of other birds in the background. The movement ends very quietly after a long ascending scale from the flute.

XI Pianistes (Pianists)

C D♭ D E♭ major . Allegro moderato . 30th bars . ⁴⁴

Strings and two pianos: This movement is a glimpse of what few audiences ever get to see: the pianists practicing their scales. Each one 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. After the four scales, the key changes back to C, where the pianos play a trill-like pattern in thirds, in the style of Charles-Louis Hanon or Carl Czerny, while the strings play a small part underneath. This movement is unusual in that the last three blasted chords do not resolve the piece, but rather lead into the next movement, with a pattern similar to the chords that lead from the second to the third movements of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3.

XII Fossiles (Fossils)

G minor . Allegro ridicolo . 74th bars . ²²

Strings, two pianos, clarinet, and xylophone: Here, Saint-Saëns mimics his own composition, the Danse macabre, which makes heavy use of the xylophone to evoke the image of skeletons playing card games, the bones clacking together to the beat. The musical themes from Danse macabre are also quoted; the xylophone and the violin play much of the melody, alternating with the piano and clarinet. The piano part is especially difficult here - octaves that jump in quick thirds. 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 piano plays the same melody upside down), the popular anthem Partant pour la Syrie, as well as the aria Una voce poco fa from Rossini's The Barber of Seville can also be heard. The musical joke in this movement is that the musical pieces quoted are the fossils of his time.

XIII Le cygne (The Swan) (nice!!!!!)

G major . Andantino grazioso . 28th bars . ⁶⁴

Two pianos and cello: This is by far the most famous movement of the suite due to it being a staple of cellists. It is often performed solo and is used to showcase the interpretive skills of the cellist. The lushly romantic cello solo (which evokes the swan elegantly gliding over the water) is played over rippling sixteenths in one piano and rolled chords in the other (representing the swan's feet, hidden from view beneath the water, propelling it along).The Swan Theme has also been played by a double bass that "sings", sounding gracefully similar to the cello in a version conducted by Leonard Bernstein.

XIV Finale

C major . Molto allegro . 91st bars . ⁴⁴

Full ensemble: The finale opens on the same tremolo notes in the pianos as in the introduction, which are soon reinforced by the wind instruments, the glass harmonica and the xylophone. The strings build the tension with a few low notes, leading to glissandi by the piano, then a pause before the lively main melody is introduced. This movement is somewhat reminiscent of an American carnival from the middle of the 20th century, with one piano always maintaining a bouncy eighth note rhythm. Although the melody is relatively simple, the supporting harmonies are ornamented in the style that is typical of Saint-Saëns' compositions for piano; dazzling scales, glissandi and trills. Many of the previous movements are quoted here from the introduction, the lion, the asses, hens, and kangaroos. The work ends with a a series of six "Hee Haws" from the Jackasses, as if to say that the Jackass has the last laugh, before the final strong group of C major chords.

haha~~ hope u like it : D
Material from Wikipedia n more ~~ 

By . heidi <3