The Carnival of the Animals conclusion of the verse for the "Fossils", for example, fits perfectly with the punchline-like first bar of the music: In 2014 the English contemporary music organisation New Music in the South West (NMSW) commissioned a set of responses to the 14 movements of "Carnival of the Animals". The pieces, collectively known as "A Modern Menagerie", were premièred by the Bristol Ensemble on 7 September 2014 at St. George’s, Bristol. The programme consisted of the original Saint-Saëns movements interleaved with the contemporary responses under the title "Carnival of the Animals" meets "A Modern Menagerie". A number of the composers have taught
The Carnival of the Animals ballet, "The Dying Swan", was choreographed in 1905 by Mikhail Fokine to this movement and performed by Anna Pavlova. Pavlova gave some 4,000 performances of the dance and "swept the world." Full ensemble: the finale opens on the same tremolo notes in the pianos as in the introduction, which are soon reinforced by the wind instruments, the glass harmonica and the xylophone. The strings build the tension with a few low notes, leading to glissandi by the piano, then a pause before the lively main melody is introduced. The Finale is somewhat reminiscent of an American carnival of the 19th