Le Carnaval des Animaux

The Carnival of the Animals by French composer, Camille Saint-Saëns, is a piece of classical music,

written in a fun and exciting way to celebrate different animals on earth. Despite the piece of music

being incredibly popular, Saint-Saëns originally wrote the piece for fun for his friends. He did not

want the music to be published because he was worried it would make people think he was not a

serious composer! 'The Swan' was published in his lifetime, but the 14 movement piece has now

become a cornerstone of classical music.

Each of the music's 14 movements represents a different animal, including a lion, donkey, and elephant, as well as fossils, an aquarium, an aviary and - Saint-Saëns' little joke - pianists, possibly the most dangerous animal of them all...

The music is beautiful, funny, and clever all at once. The Swan, one of the most iconic movements, is scored for two pianos and a cello solo, with the calming cello tune representing the bird's effortless gliding, and the rolling piano chords paint a musical picture of the swan's hidden feet, paddling furiously under the water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L993HNAa8M&safe=truee Listen to the music… you could try

to guess which animal each part is about if you switch tabs on your browser!

http://www.cumbriamusicservice.co.uk/ks2-resources/carnival-of-the-animals-intro-2/carnival-

of-the-animals-list/ follow the pages along starting with ‘Saint-Saens’ to learn more information

about the

I “Introduction et marche royale du lion” (Introduction and Royal March of the Lion)

II “Poules et coqs” (Hens and Roosters)

III “Hémiones (animaux véloces)” (Wild Donkeys Swift Animals)

IV “Tortues” (Tortoises)

V “L’Éléphant” (The Elephant)

VI “Kangourous”

VII “Aquarium”

VIII “Personnages à longues oreilles” (Characters with Long Ears)

IX “Le Coucou au fond des bois” (The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods)

X “Volière” (Aviary)

XI “Pianistes” (Pianists)

XII “Fossiles” (Fossils)

XIII “Le cygne” (The Swan)

XIV Final (Finale)

Here are the French names for the animals that are featured in the music.

You could make your own vocabulary cards if you wanted to:

Le lion the lion

Le coq the cockerel

le kangourou the

kangaroo

le poisson the fish

le coucou the cuckoo

l’âne the donkey

l’éléphant the elephant

l’oiseau the bird

la tortue the tortoise

la poule the hen

le cygne the swan

Art task:

Art

Choose your favourite

movement or animal and

create some art about it.

Le Carnaval des Animaux

Task: write the correct French for the animals below each picture. You can copy

them or challenge yourself and try to write them from memory.

Listen to the music again, or in parts for each animal’s movement. Can you guess

which main instruments are playing?

I "Introduction et marche royale du lion" (Introduction and Royal March of the Lion)

II "Poules et coqs" (Hens and Roosters)

III "Hémiones (animaux véloces)" (Wild Donkeys Swift Animals)

IV "Tortues" (Tortoises)

V "L'Éléphant" (The Elephant)

VI "Kangourous" (Kangaroos)

VII "Aquarium"

VIII "Personnages à longues oreilles" (Characters with Long Ears)

IX "Le Coucou au fond des bois" (The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods)

X "Volière" (Aviary)

XI "Pianistes" (Pianists)

XII "Fossiles" (Fossils)

XIII "Le cygne" (The Swan)

XIV Final (Finale)

Can you unscramble these to reveal the animals?

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