Saint-Saens: The Elephant for Double Bass & String Quartet (arr. Heyes)

About the Composition

From 1886, the year of its composition, and 1922, the year of publication, the image of the double bass was changed for ever. Saint-Saëns' famed The Carnival of the Animals, a perennial favourite at children's concerts, represented the double bass in a humourous pomposo way and we now have our own 'national anthem'.

The Carnival of the Animals, subtitled Grande Fantasie Zoologique, has fourteen movements, is scored for two pianos and chamber ensemble, and is a rare work of musical humour which never fails to thrill its audience, young or old. The first performance was on 9 March 1886 at the annual Shrove Tuesday concert organised by cellist, Charles Joseph Lebouc. Emile de Bailly was the double bassist, and the pianists were Louis Diemer and the composer himself

The Elephant is the fifth movement and the double bass is accompanied by Piano 2, and, although only 52 bars long and lasting a little over a minute, it has really captured the imagination of the concert-going public. In E flat major and in 3/8 time, it remains in the lower orchestral register for much of the time and is a musical joke par excellence.

In its 52 bars Camille Saint-Saëns has created a minor musical masterpiece. The music is witty and cleverly written to describe the elephant with the introduction of dance music by Berlioz and Mendelssohn adding an extra touch of magic. This is probably the first piece to introduce the double bass to a general audience and the composer imaginatively uses the lower orchestral register to describe the beast.