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,
Paris in the Belle Époque "Samson et Dalila" (1877), the "Carnival of the Animals" (1877), and his Symphony No. 3 (1886). On 25 February 1871, he co-founded the Société Nationale de Musique with Romain Bussine to promote French contemporary and chamber music. His students included Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré, two of the foremost French composers of the late 19th- and early 20th centuries. Georges Bizet (1838-1875), born in Paris, was admitted to the Paris Conservatory when he was only ten years old. He finished his most famous work, "Carmen", written for the Opéra-Comique, in 1874. Even before its première, "Carmen" was criticized as immoral.