"The Carnival of the Animals" is a musical suite of
fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer
Camille Saint-Saëns.
It was 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 substitut...(+)
"The Carnival of the Animals" is a musical suite of
fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer
Camille Saint-Saëns.
It was 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 an "undectet."
Saint-Saëns, apparently concerned that the piece was
too frivolous and likely to harm his reputation as a
serious composer, suppressed performances of it and
only allowed one movement, Le cygne, to be published in
his lifetime. Only small private performances were
given for close friends like Franz Liszt.
Saint-Saëns did, however, include a provision which
allowed 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. It is a
favorite of music teachers and young children, along
with Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Britten's The
Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. In fact, it is
very common to see any combination of these three works
together on modern CD recordings.
Movement 3. Hémiones (animaux véloces) (Wild Asses;
quick animals)
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.
Although originally written for 2 Pianos (duet), I
created this arrangement for Solo Electric (Synth)
Piano.
SHEET MUSIC