Carnival+of+the+Animals

**//Carnival of the Animals -// Bugs Bunny & Daffy Duck (24:26)** do not play 7:50 - 9:10 - Jackass
Missing: Tortoises, Long Ears, Cuckoo, The Swan 5:10-6:29 - Royal March of the Lions 7:04-7:49 - Roosters and Hens 9:39 - 10:35 - Kangaroos 11:40 - 12:54 - Birds 13:27 - 15:36 - The Aquarium 16:29 - 17:58 - Elephants 18:39 - 19:55 - Fossils 20:28 - 22:27 - Finale


 * Carnival of the Animals - Tortoise (2:08) **


 * Carnival of the Animals - Long Ears (1:09 - no sound until 0:17) **


 * Carnival of the Animals - Cuckoo (start at 0:04) (1:56) **


 * Carnival of the Animals - Swan (ballerina) (3:29) **


 * Carnival of the Animals - Swan (Li'l Buck & Yo Yo Ma) (3:46) **
 * Recorder playing "Swan" **

//From Wikipedia://

I //Introduction et marche royale du lion// (Introduction and royal march of the lion)
[|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)
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)
Two pianos: The [|asses] 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)
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' (commonly called the [|Can-can] ) from [|Offenbach's] operetta // [|Orpheus in the Underworld] //.

V //L'éléphant// (The elephant)
[|Double-bass] and piano: This section is marked //Allegro pomposo//, 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 Barrett] on his final solo album // [|Barrett] //, the opening coda of "The Elephant" can be heard played on [|tuba]. Throughout the long-running [|Carry On Films], //The Elephant//was used as the signature tune for the characters played by [|Hattie Jacques] , when they first appeared on screen.

VI //Kangourous// (Kangaroos)
Two pianos: The main figure here is a pattern of 'hopping' fifths preceded by grace notes. When the fifths ascend, the tempo gradually speeds up and the dynamics get louder, and when the fifths descend, the tempo gradually slows down and the dynamics get quieter.

VII //Aquarium//
Strings without double-bass, two pianos, flute, glockenspiel 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. According to British music journalist [|Fritz Spiegl], there is a recording of the movement featuring virtuoso [|harmonica] player [|Tommy Reilly] - apparently he was hired by mistake instead of a player of the glass harmonica. The recording in question is of the Czechoslovak Radio Symphony Orchestra on the Naxos label. [|[3]]

VIII //Personnages à longues oreilles// (Characters with long ears)
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. [|[4]]

IX //Le coucou au fond des bois// (The cuckoo in the depths of the woods)
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)
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)
Strings and two pianos: This movement is a glimpse of what few audiences ever get to see: the pianists practicing their scales. The scales of C, D flat, D and E flat are covered. 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. In some performances, the later, more difficult, scales are deliberately played increasingly out of time. One published version of the music has the editor's note: "The pianists should imitate the hesitant style and awkwardness of a beginner". [|[5]] After the four scales, the key changes back to C, where the pianos play a moderate speed 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)
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, according to [|Leonard Bernstein] 's narration on his recording of the work with the New York Philharmonic, is that the musical pieces quoted are the fossils of Saint-Saens's time.

XIII //Le cygne// (The swan)
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. A short ballet, // [|The Dying Swan] //, was choreographed in 1905 by Mikhail Fokine to this movement and performed by [|Anna Pavlova]. Pavlova gave some 4,000 performances of the dance and "swept the world." [|[6]]

XIV //Finale//
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 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.

Musical allusions
As the title suggests, the work follows a [|zoological] [|program] and progresses from the first movement, //Introduction et marche royale du lion//, through portraits of [|elephants] and [|donkeys] ("Those with Long Ears") to a finale reprising many of the earlier motifs. Several of the movements are of humorous intent:
 * //Poules et coqs// uses the theme of [|Jean-Philippe Rameau] 's [|harpsichord] piece //La poule// ("The Hen") from his [|Suite] in G major, but in a quite less elegant mood.
 * //Pianistes// depicts piano students practicing scales.
 * //Tortues// makes good use of the well-known "Galop infernal" from [|Jacques Offenbach] 's [|operetta] // [|Orpheus in the Underworld] //, playing the usually breakneck-speed melody at a slow, drooping pace.
 * //L'éléphant// uses a theme from [|Hector Berlioz] 's "Danse des sylphes" (from his work // [|The Damnation of Faust] //) played in a much lower register than usual as a double bass solo. The piece also quotes the Scherzo from [|Felix Mendelssohn] 's // [|A Midsummer Night's Dream] //. It is heard at the end of the bridge section.
 * //Fossiles// quotes Saint-Saëns' own // [|Danse macabre] // as well as three nursery rhymes, " [|J'ai du bon tabac] ", "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" ( [|Twinkle Twinkle Little Star] ) and " [|Au clair de la lune] ", also the song [|Partant pour la Syrie] and [|Rossini] 's [|aria], "//Una voce poco fa//" from // [|The Barber of Seville] //.
 * The //Personnages à longues oreilles// section is thought to be directed at music critics: they are also supposedly the last animals heard during the finale, braying.