Saint-Saëns: Le Carnaval des Animaux (Carnival of Animals) V. L'Éléphant (The Elephant) - brass quintet
The Carnival of the Animals (French: Le Carnaval des animaux) is a humorous musical suite of 14 movements, including "The Swan", by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns.
About 25 minutes in duration, it was written for private performance by two pianos and chamber ensemble.
V. L'Éléphant (The Elephant)
Duration: 1 minute and 28 seconds.
1:28
Double bass and piano: this section is marked Allegro pomposo, the great caricature for an elephant. The piano plays a waltz-like triplet figure while the bass hums the melody beneath it. Like "Tortues", this is also a musical joke—the thematic material is taken from the Scherzo from Mendelssohn's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream and Berlioz's "Dance of the Sylphs" from The Damnation of Faust. The two themes were both originally written for high, lighter-toned instruments (flute and various other woodwinds, and violin, accordingly); the joke is that Saint-Saëns moves this to the lowest and heaviest-sounding instrument in the orchestra, the double bass.
Arranged for brass quintet
