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Carnival of the Animals is a bit of musical fun composed by Camille Saint-Saens. It is a suite of 14 sections representing 13 animals, with a lively finale at the end. Saint-Saens wrote this composition as a joke, when his music students begged him to compose a funny piece.

Saint-Saens strictly prohibited the public performance of Carnival of the Animals during his lifetime; he really wanted to be taken seriously as a composer and he thought this lighthearted music would hurt his reputation. He made only one exception: “The Swan.” This piece was made famous by the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who created a solo dance to the melody.

Here are some examples of musical jokes in Carnival of the Animals:

1. Quotations from other musical numbers:

The elephant’s theme was borrowed from Berlioz’s “Dance of the Sylphs”

(What is a sylph)?

The tortoise’s tune is a very slow version of the can-can from Offenbach’s

“Orpheus in the Underworld.”

“Fossils” uses Saint-Saens’s own Danse Macabre.

2. Poking fun at people, like pianists practicing scales.

3. Writing music that sounds like the featured animal (cuckoo, donkey, kangaroo).

A modern American poet named Ogden Nash wrote humorous poems to go with each section. Sometimes the poems are read when orchestras play Carnival of the Animals.

This music still inspires fun. Orchestras often perform it outdoors at zoos and parks. Costumes can be created to represent the animals. Artwork and original poetry often complement the performance.

1. Listen to Carnival of the Animals. Draw a picture of an animal described by one section of the music.
2. Guess which animal is being described in each of these examples.
3. Read the poems Ogden Nash wrote about the animals in this music, or the new Carnival of the Animals by John Lithgow. Describe your favorite animal with a poem or essay of your own.
4. Print a page of blank music paper and compose a short piece of music about your favorite animal.

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