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Music : The Carnival Of The Animals

Decent Essays

The 19th Century saw many composers come to light as they made a mark on the art music world. Unknown at the time, they would soon be remembered for their work in decades to come. As music developed so did the various ways to portray the piece that was being played. One type of art music that emerged at the time was ‘programme music’. This was defined as where the “composer intends to guard the listener against a wrong poetical interpretation” . In other words it was a way to correctly convince an audience of the story with a number of movements. Composer Camille Saint – Saens was one of the many who did this exceptionally well. Throughout his lifetime, 1835 – 1921, he was known to be one of “France’s most gifted musicians” . Many of his works are still used today and have helped inspire many in not only the musical world, but outside of it as well.
In 1886 Saint – Saens composed a piece of programme music titled The Carnival of the Animals. It consisted of fourteen movements, each of which were dedicated to an animal. ‘Animals were a lifelong fascination’ for Saint – Saens allowing him to craft one of his most famous pieces. It was a gift for his friend Charles Lebouc who was a veteran cellist and seemingly was the only influence for this work. Saens was captivated by the impression of a swan during one of Lebouc’s concerts. This then motivated him to compose this piece of programme music. However, this piece was not made public as he wished to be taken seriously as a

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