2019-2020 Young People’s Concert Series The Music & Zoology of Carnival of the Animals Camille Saint‐Saëns first imagined his famous Carnival of the Animals in the 1860s while working part time as a piano professor at a small music school in Paris. His idea was to create something fun on the side for which his students could perform the two solo piano parts. He wouldn’t finish writing the work however for another 20 years. After a difficult concert tour of Germany in 1885‐86, Saint‐Saëns took a vacation to the Austrian countryside. It was there while working on his Third Symphony that he finally decided to finish the Carnival. His first version of the work was written for just 11 players, including the two pianos and a few orchestral instruments. The work was given a handful of performances among Saint‐Saëns’ friends who hosted little private concerts. It was well‐liked, and word about it spread around Paris. But Saint‐Saëns refused to have the music published or even to allow the Carnival to be performed in public. He thought if people heard it, they wouldn’t think of him as a “serious” composer any more. Before he died, however, Saint‐Saëns arranged to have the work published after his death. For a work that he didn’t see as “serious,” it would probably make the composer grumpy to know that it’s now one of his most famous works! In the Carnival of the Animals, there are 14 short movements, or independent sections. Each movement highlights a different “animal” or group of animals. Let’s explore the animals and the music to each movement below. Introduction and Royal March of the Lion The first movement of Carnival of the Animals is about the king of the jungle: the lion. Like humans, lions are mammals. But they are also carnivores, meaning they only eat meat. Lions are very big cats – some males can weigh over 500 pounds! Lions usually sleep during the day and hunt at night, which means they’re nocturnal. Unlike other cat species, male lions have something we all recognize: a mane. The mane of shaggy hair around the neck and torso serves to make the lion look bigger if threatened by another animal. A group of lions is called a pride, and lions are certainly proud animals, too! Saint‐Saëns opens the Carnival of the Animals with a short introduction marked “Andante maestoso,” or “Majestically, at a walking pace” [Contest playlist, track 1]. While the pianos play a feverish open‐chord tremolo (a rapid alteration of notes back and forth), the strings make upward groaning sounds, like a yawning lion waking up from a nap! Then the introduction end abruptly with a brilliant glissando played by both pianos. Now it’s time for the “Royal March of the Lion” [0:28]. While the pianos add rhythmic flare, the strings play a rather arrogant‐sounding march – the lion is coming! violins Listen for the lion's roar in the piano [1:00], and later in the strings [1:27] as the pianos take over the march theme. You had better not make this orchestra angry! Hens and Roosters People say chickens lay eggs, but it would be more accurate to say that hens lay eggs. Hens are female chickens, and roosters of course are the males. Both hens and roosters have funny looking combs on the tops of their heads, but the roosters have bigger ones. Roosters are also territorial and are known for their loud crowing, which they do to mark what’s “theirs.” Like most humans, chickens are omnivores, meaning that they will eat both animals and plants. A typical chicken diet consists of seeds, insects and the occasional small mouse, snake or lizard. They are the most populated bird species in the world. In fact, for every human being on earth, there are about four chickens! Chickens live in flocks, which have a “pecking order,” where one rooster is always the “chief” of the flock. The “Hens and Roosters” movement is marked “Allegro moderato,” or “Moderately fast.” It opens with the sounds of hens pecking at seeds on the ground, played by the piano and violins [Contest playlist, track 2]. Suddenly a rooster interrupts with a “Cock‐A‐Doodle‐ Doo!” in the piano [0:11]. The hens start pecking again, but the rooster interrupts at a higher pitch this time, again played by the piano [0:17]. The hens start to give a low warning call – trouble is coming! But the rooster isn’t scared. He crows over the top of them, this time in the clarinet [0:28]. clarinet (in C) It’s just one hen now making a frantic “buk buk buk buK‐KA!” sound now, probably as she being dragged to the chopping block. A final chord in the pianos silences the poor chicken like the swing of a farmer’s axe. Wild Donkeys This movement isn’t about what we normally think of as donkeys – rather, Saint‐Saëns was writing about a species known as the “Mongolian wild ass,” also called dziggetai. These wild donkeys are mammals that live mainly in the Gobi Desert area of Asia. They are herbivores, meaning that they eat only plants – in this case mostly shrubs and grasses. In order to outrun predators, dziggetai have adapted to become very fast runners. Some can reach a top speed of nearly 40 miles per hour! Sadly, dziggetai today are an endangered species, which means there are very few of them left in the wild. The species is threatened not only by predators, but by poaching, land development, competition from grazing livestock and climate change. There would have been more dziggetai in Saint‐Saëns’ time, and he likely saw one while traveling on a concert tour. Wherever he learned about them, it was their speed that impressed the composer. As a movement subtitle, Saint‐Saëns writes “animaux véloces,” meaning “Swift Animals.” The movement is for the two pianos only, and the composer asks them to play “Presto furioso,” or “Furiously fast.” They certainly do that – up and down, up and down the piano [Contest playlist, track 3]. And for an eye‐and‐ear‐blurring 40 seconds, they never stop! In this movement, the two pianos actually play the same part throughout but an octave (eight notes) apart. Tortoises Tortoises make up a family of turtles that live primarily on land. They are unique from other reptiles because of their hard, protective shells. Tortoises are herbivores and also have a very long lifespan – some live for over 150 years! While smaller tortoises are tiny enough to hold in the palm of your hand, others can be nearly seven feet long. That’s taller than most human beings! The larger the tortoise, however, the slower it tends to move on land. Giant tortoises are very slow – they average about 0.17 miles per hour. Saint‐Saëns was apparently a tortoise‐teaser – he uses this movement to poke fun at these gentle animals for their slowness. Here Saint‐Saëns has the strings play a famous tune known as the “Can‐Can” from the operetta Orpheus in the Underworld by another composer, Jacque Offenbach. Normally it is played very quickly and recklessly (imagine a dance line across the stage with people kicking up their legs). But here the melody is played very slowly and quietly, with a stately piano accompaniment [track 4]. cello The movement is marked “Andante maestoso,” meaning “Majestically, at a walking pace.” It’s as if the composer wants to put us in the mind of the tortoise, where he imagines a proud (but sleepy) creature who dreams of dancing although she is moving very slowly – very slowly, indeed. The Elephant Elephants are large herbivore mammals whose habitat includes parts of Africa and Asia. The largest male African elephants can be 13 feet tall and weigh as much as 15,000 pounds. That’s about the weight of five small cars or two SUV’s! To support this massive weight, elephants have thick legs that look like pillars. They also have white tusks which they can use as tools and to defend themselves. Because of their large surface area, an elephant’s ears release body heat easily and are handy for keeping the animal cool. But what would an elephant be without its trunk? Elephants use their trunks to drink, breath, smell, touch, grab, lift, eat, “trumpet,” spray water to cool themselves, and a number of other things too. Sadly, many elephants have been killed by human beings out a desire for the ivory in their tusks. Today, the Asian elephant is an endangered species. What kind of music should represent a big, heavy animal like the elephant? Saint‐Saëns has a waltz – a dance in three beats. Can you imagine an elephant dancing a waltz? Now listen to the music [Track 5]. If this made you laugh, than Saint‐Saëns got what he was going for. The movement is played by the doublebass and the piano. double bass Saint‐Saëns asks the musicians to play “Allegretto pomposo,” meaning something like “Pompously and playfully, at a medium speed.” Kangaroos Kangaroos are very common in Australia. In fact, there are currently more kangaroos living in Australia than there are people! Kangaroos are herbivore mammals that are known for their large, powerful feet. They are unique in that they are the only large animals on Earth that get around by hopping. They can hop very fast, too – up to 44 miles per hour over short distances. Another interesting fact about kangaroos is that they are marsupials.