Camille Saint-Saëns - The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods

Le Carnaval des Animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) is a musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns.

Le Carnaval was composed in February 1886 while Saint-Saëns was vacationing in a small Austrian village. It was originally scored for a chamber group of flute, clarinet, two pianos, glass harmonica, xylophone, two violins, viola, cello and double bass, but is usually performed today with a full orchestra of strings, and with a glockenspiel substituting for the rare glass harmonica.

Saint-Saëns, apparently concerned that the piece was too frivolous and likely to harm his reputation as a serious composer, suppressed performances of it and only allowed one movement, Le Cygne, to be published in his lifetime. Only small private performances were given for close friends like Franz Liszt.

Saint-Saëns did, however, include a provision which allowed the suite to be published after his death, and it has since become one of his most popular works. It is a favorite of music teachers and young children, along with Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.

Le coucou au fond des bois (The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods):
Two pianos and clarinet: The pianos play large, soft chords while the clarinet plays a single two-note ostinato, over and over; a C and an A flat, mimicking the call of a cuckoo bird.
[from Wikipedia]

Artwork:Remedios Varo,"Creation of the Birds"
Played by:French National Radio Orchestra (Pierre Carbidier).

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Camille
• Saint
• Saens
• Cuckoo
• in
• the
• depths
• of
• woods

[garbobbage]

Thank you so much for posting these great pieces. I'm just starting to enjoy them.

[tris0h0h7]

reminds me of home, i'm in a place far from home

[LiaSlytherinSnape]

Essa música é tão profunda...

[cheifjojo]

@cdpresberg The authour H. Rider Haggard :) Although I first heard a variant of it through a Terry Pratchett book, the title of this made me remember the quote =)

[cdpresberg]

@cheifjojo What's that from? It's wonderful.

[cocoNbees]

creepy photo 

[cheifjojo]

"Out of the dark we came, into the dark we go. Like a storm-driven bird at night we fly out of the Nowhere; for a moment our wings are seen in the light of the fire, and, lo! we are gone again into the Nowhere."

[jd453131]

Thanx, this song is really inspiring, I wrote a song similar to it!!

[peonyplum]

I love Remedios Varos. I am a musician and am inspired to take some of my favorites of hers and compose some music to it.

[Laergoth]

Thank you for uploading these bizarre yet appealing representations of the Carnival of the Animals. The music is very unique, and the images unexplainably interesting.