The Carnival of the Animals The Carnival of the Animals The Carnival of the Animals (Le carnaval des animaux) is a humorous musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The work was written for private performance by an "ad hoc" ensemble of two pianos and other instruments, and lasts around 25 minutes. Following a disastrous concert tour of Germany in 1885–86, Saint-Saëns withdrew to a small Austrian village, where he composed "The Carnival of the Animals" in February 1886. It is scored for two pianos, two violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute (and piccolo), clarinet (C and B), glass harmonica,
Carnival in the Netherlands Italy. The carnival of Venice was for a long time the most famous carnival (although Napoleon abolished it in 1797 and only in 1959 the tradition was restored). From Italy carnival traditions spread to the Catholic nations of Spain, Portugal, and France. From France it spread to New France in North America (the mardi gras). From Spain and Portugal, it spread with Catholic colonization to the Caribbean and Latin America. In the early 19th century the weakened medieval tradition started to revive as well in the German Rhineland and Southern Netherlands. In 1823 the first modern carnaval parade took place