Suite bergamasque a vigorous beginning and ending. It is a festive piece, which holds much of the Baroque style that is commonly found in preludes. The second part of the "Suite bergamasque" is the Menuet, in A minor. Its playful main theme contrasts with an alternatively mysterious and dramatic middle section. This piece is particularly original, as it does not conform to the particular style that most minuets share. Rather than being very airy and dainty, it shows much more raw comedy. Again, Debussy sets a very novel piece in the guise of an old dance style. The third and most famous
The Carnival of the Animals (better known in the English-speaking world as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"), the French nursery rhymes "Au clair de la lune", and "J'ai du bon tabac" (the piano plays the same melody upside down), the popular anthem "Partant pour la Syrie", as well as the aria "Una voce poco fa" from Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" can also be heard. The musical joke in this movement, according to Leonard Bernstein's narration on his recording of the work with the New York Philharmonic, is that the musical pieces quoted are the fossils of Saint-Saëns's time. Two pianos and cello: the lushly romantic