Le carnaval des animaux

It's ironic when certain composers find success with works they consider uncharacteristic, a case in point being Saint-Saëns’ Le Carnaval des animaux (“The Carnival of the Animals”). Written and premiered in February 1886, this enjoyed numerous private performances over the ensuing decades, including one with Liszt in attendance and some with musicians wearing masks of the animals they portrayed; but Saint-Saëns forbade its publication until after his death on the grounds its whimsy misrepresented him as a composer. It was published and given its first public performance in Paris on 25 February 1922, Gabriel Pierné directing the Concerts Colonne in a hearing that vindicated its musical qualities. The scoring is for 11 instruments, including two pianos—the first of its 14 short movements, “Introduction and Royal March of the Lion”, duly underlining the high jinks to come. Among the subsequent highlights are “The Elephant”, with its allusions to Mendelssohn and Berlioz, on double bass; “Aquarium”, with its proto-Impressionist harmonies and ethereal contribution from glass harmonica; “Fossils”, with its send-up of popular songs and brittle xylophone writing; and “The Swan”, the only extract published in the composer’s lifetime and whose tender cello melody found immediate fame. The ensemble unites for the “Finale” that recalls several earlier movements as it breezes to its effervescent conclusion.