The Carnival of the Animals: The Aquarium
Le Carnaval des Animaux' (The Carnival of the Animals) is a musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns.Le Carnaval 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, clarinet, 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.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, 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.Strings without double-bass, two pianos, flute, and 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, while the second plays a six-on-one. These figures, plus the occasional glissando from the harmonica, are very evocative of a peaceful, dimly-lit aquarium. This intermittent section where the pianos play high sixteenths is reminiscent of parts of Tchaikovsky's ballet, The Nutcracker.
Channel: Travel & Events
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: MindwalkerStudios
Length: 02:40
Rating: 4.933676
Views: 1369808
Tags: Carnival Animals Aquarium Camille Saint-Saëns
Video Comments
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dmanthree100 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
@sweetipie15 Definitely influenced the main theme to that movie, though not identical.
sweetipie15 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
beauty and the beast?.
Psyche777able (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
How they glide passed us in a world of beauty. Thanks for posting.
iluvcats1022 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
Nancy Drew in the beginning anyone?
theovermindliveth (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
@theartist3311 Exactly! I was listening to that a while back, and I realized it was almost identical. The motif starts out a third above this, I believe, but it's the same sequence.
BlackButlerKURO (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
Am I the only one who remembers this being played in the Beggining of "The Ring"?
thekatzpajamas92 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
I hope you all realize that the title and composer are in the information section, directly beneath the video. It's sad enough that this piece has been all but forgotten, but the lack of attention is just terrifying.
GeniousVideos (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
@xBeToox96 what episode is this from?
saintsimon09 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)
@theartist3311 It is basically the same piece of music yes :) The whole film is littered with musical reference points like this. McFact! |
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