Johnny Morris - Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals / Ravel: Mother Goose [Naxos Children's Classics] [CD]

Camille Saint-Sa?½ns(1835-1921)Carnival of theAnimalsThe French composerCamille Saint-Sa?½ns was prolific and lived a long time, although by the time ofhis death in 1921 music had changed beyond anything he could have conceived. Hewas a gifted pianist and, in common with many other well known Frenchcomposers, found employment and distinction as organist at one of the principalchurches in Paris. The popular Carnival of the Animals, described as AZoological Fantasy, was written in 1886, originally for two pianos and asmall chamber orchestra to celebrate that year's carnival. The composer forbadefurther performances of this occasional music, except for The Swan, whichenjoyed immediate and irresistible popularity.The pianos open thework in a brief introduction that seems to suggest the roar of the lions,before the Royal March begins, with its suggestions of the exotic in itstheme. Cocks and Hens are as true to nature as the composer can makethem, followed by Wild Asses of unexpected rapidity of motion, incontrast to the lumbering Tortoise, who offers a can-can at the slowestpossible speed, putting a foot wrong here and there. The Elephants arenaturally represented by the double bass in an episode that includes a directquotation of the highly inappropriate Ballet of the Sylphs by Berlioz.The pianos alone then imitate the capricious leaps of the Kangaroos, tobe followed by an evocation of the Aquarium. People with Long Ears, critics,are portrayed by piercing whistles and the braying of donkeys, while pianos andclarinet bring in the Cuckoo, followed by the rest of the Birds, withthe help of the flute. Pianists, creatures not usually found in zoos,practice their scales, heavily accented, and are followed by Fossils, withtunes of undoubted antiquity and interesting activity for the xylophone. The Swansings its dying song on the cello, reminding us now of the dance devised byFokin for the great Anna Pavlova. The fantasy ends with a summary of much thathas gone before.Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Mother GooseMaurice Ravel, incommon with other great composers, uses a musical language that is instantlyrecognisable, whether in the sparer textures of music that recalls classicaland earlier traditions, in his innovative writing for the piano or hiscolourful use of the modern orchestra. He was born in Ciboure in the BassesPyrenees in 1875, the son of an engineer of Swiss ancestry and a mother whocame from the Basque country. From his father he acquired an interest in thingsmechanical and a certain meticulous precision in his music and in his personalhabits, while from his mother he inherited an affinity with Spain and afamiliarity with the language of that country, an element reflected in some ofhis compositions.Ravel entered theParis Conservatoire in 1889, but was to fail to win there the distinction andthe necessary prizes that his abilities deserved. He withdrew in 1895 butreturned in 1897 to study composition with Gabriel Faure, a sympatheticteacher, who had su