Au clair de la lune Au clair de la lune "" (, lit. "By the Light of the Moon") is a French folk song of the 18th century. Its composer and lyricist are unknown. Its simple melody () is commonly taught to beginners learning an instrument. Some sources report that "plume" (pen) was originally "lume" (an old word for "light" or "lamp"). 19th-century French composer Camille Saint-Saëns quoted the first few notes of the tune in the section "The Fossils", part of his suite "The Carnival of the Animals". Claude Debussy, composer of the similarly named "Clair de lune" from his "Suite bergamasque", uses "Au
Orchestral Suite No. 3 (Tchaikovsky) the two he had previously written. The problem lay with the opening movement. Titled "Contrastes", it was to be a fantasia of contrasting musical sounds and patterns, not unlike the "Jeu de sons" movement that opened the Second Orchestral Suite. The more he worked with the music, the more recalcitrant the music became and the more he hated it. "Contrastes" finally found its way into the Concert Fantasia. Tchaikovsky's original layout for the Third Suite was similar to that of his Second—a fairly large opening movement as in his first two orchestral suites, then three smaller ones and a theme–and–variations