The Carnival of the Animals and xylophone. From the beginning, Saint-Saëns regarded the work as a piece of fun. On 9 February 1886 he wrote to his publishers Durand in Paris that he was composing a work for the coming Shrove Tuesday, and confessing that he knew he should be working on his Third Symphony, but that this work was "such fun" (). He had apparently intended to write the work for his students at the École Niedermeyer, but it was first performed at a private concert given by the cellist Charles Lebouc on Shrove Tuesday, 9 March 1886. A second (private) performance was given
Don't Stop the Carnival (Sonny Rollins album) Don't Stop the Carnival (Sonny Rollins album) Don't Stop the Carnival is a live album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded at the Great American Music Hall and released on the Milestone label in 1978, featuring performances by Rollins with Mark Soskin, Aurell Ray, Jerome Harris and Tony Williams with Donald Byrd joining on five tracks. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow wrote that the "versions of 'Don't Stop the Carnival' and 'Autumn Nocturne' are memorable but most of the rest of the set, although spirited, is a bit lightweight". Music critic Robert Christgau wrote "the meat of the album