Composer chiefly remembered for his symphonic poems -the first of that genre to be written by a Frenchman- and for his opera 'Samson et Dalila'. Classical Period and Impressionistic. Carah013. The Swan. It may be best known today as the theme to TV series, Jonathan Creek. Died: December 16, 1921, Algiers, Algeria. St. Saens was a French pianist and composer of the Romantic era, born in Paris and at an early age recognized as a musical prodigy. However, he was skeptical that it might hamper his public image of being more matured and serious composer, as he feared it was a tad bit whimsical. What's Included: 1-page Resource Guide; Word Composer; Composer Rating Sheet; Listening Sheet Star Rating Guide; Listening Sheets Approaching the age of 40, Saint-Saëns married Marie Laure Emile Truffot who was just 19. (2010) ISBN: 978-0 … Because of its slow tempo and mostly legato performance indications, the movement is suitable for performance on the theremin and has joined Sergei Rachmaninoff's Vocalise and Jules Massenet's Méditation from his opera Thaïs among the classical works central to the theremin repertoire. The Carnival of the Animals (French: Le Carnavál de Animaûx) is a musical composition by Camille Saint-Saëns. In Leonard Bernstein's famous recording of the piece with the New York Philharmonic the melody is performed on double bass by a 20-year-old Gary Karr. It is one of the best known pieces of classical music for children. Montserrat Caballé recorded a version in which she vocalizes sections of the melody accompanied by a piano. Following a disastrous concert tour of Germany in 1885–86, Saint-Saëns withdrew to a small Austrian village, where he composed The Carnival of the Animals in February 1886. From Swan to Dying Swan The Carnival of the Animals, composed in 1886, was originally written as a joke and Saint-Saëns worried that it might damage his reputation. Description by Chris Boyes. Arranged by Alvin Buechner. PD. That same year he composed a ‘grand zoological fantasy’ in 14 movements, scored for two pianos, string quartet, double bass, flute, clarinet, glockenspiel, xylophone, and glass harmonica/celesta, which sprang from the opposite end of the musical spectrum: The Carnival of the Animals. Carnival of the Animals has since become one of Saint-Saëns best known works. The edition was published by Durand in 1895. However, Maya Plisetskaya re-interpreted the swan simply as elderly and stubbornly resisting the effects of aging; much like herself (she performed The Swan at a gala on her 70th birthday). Camille Saint-Saëns's "Le cygne" (The Swan), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Le_cygne&oldid=963246314, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 18 June 2020, at 18:53. Edward Elgar WHEN I WAS eleven years old, my violin teacher assigned me “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saëns. Though he banned most of it from public performance until after its death, it is among his biggest hits today. I had no idea that it was a famous cello solo or part of a much larger work: The Carnival of the Animals. Saint-Saëns later developed his music into a concert work - the Opus 128 for strings, piano and harmonium. The French composer was supposed to be working on his third symphony when he took a break to compose … There was a particular animosity with Claude Debussy who once stated, ‘I have a horror of sentimentality and cannot forget that its name is Saint- Saëns.’. In the 1890s, Louis van Waefelghem adapted Le cygne for viola or viola d'amore and piano. 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