When Saint-Saens composed his ‘Grand Zoological Fantasy,’ early in 1886, he had no intention of offering the work to the public; he simply thought to provide an entertainment for his friends at Carnival time and he even specifically prohibited of his it until after his own death, excepting only the beautiful penultimate section, ‘The Swan,’ for cello.

Little more than two months after the composer's death, and The Carnival of the Animals quickly became one of Saint-Saens's most popular works.

Saint Saens’ original score is marked Allegro pomposo, the perfect caricature for an elephant. This piece 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-Saens moves the themes into the lower registers to describe his ‘pomposo’ elephant.

Approximate Performance Duration: 1' 30"

Skill Level: Challenging

Instrumentation
Percussion 1: Vibraphone
Percussion 2: Marimba
Percussion 3: Marimba
Timpani

ISMN: 979-0-708127-37-6