The Carnival of the Animals (the original uses two pianos). Saint-Saëns did specify in his will that the work should be published posthumously. Following his death in December 1921, the work was published by Durand in Paris in April 1922 and the first public performance was given on 25 February 1922 by Concerts Colonne (the orchestra of Édouard Colonne). "Carnival" has since become one of Saint-Saëns's best-known works, played by the original eleven instrumentalists, or more often with the full string section of an orchestra. Normally a glockenspiel substitutes for the rare glass harmonica. Ever popular with music teachers and young children, it is often
Carnival of Huejotzingo “huehue” (meaning old person) dancers also exists. Festivities are daytime, beginning in the morning, with a break for a main meal in the mid afternoon and then continuing until nightfall. There are pre Hispanic elements to this carnival, including the mock battles which have been compared to the “flower wars” of the Aztecs. Carnival coincides with the time that the pre Hispanic inhabitants of Huejotzingo petitioned the gods for fertility of the lands and for abundant rainfall. The carnival is led by a “General en Jefe de las Fuerzas o Ejercicios Carnavalesco” who is in charge of leading all four