Parts complete, Urtext Edition, paperbound
Chamber Orchestra
for flute (piccolo), clarinet (B flat/C), glass harmonica, xylophone, piano I, piano II, violin I, violin II, viola, violoncello, double bass
Pages 102 (VII 25 22 7 7 8 7 7 4 4 2 2), Size 23,5 x 31,0 cm

Written in March 1886 as a humorous occasional work for the traditional carnival concert organized by his cellist friend Charles-Joseph Lebouc, the Carnival of the Animals was so successful that Saint-Saëns banned performances and publication soon afterwards. He was worried that this “grand zoological fantasy” - consisting of 14 short individual pieces for eleven instruments - might overshadow his serious works. Yet only five months after the composer’s death, it appeared in print after all, beginning its worldwide victory march - in its original setting as well as in numerous arrangements. Thus, the Carnival did in fact arguably become the most popular work by this French composer and, owing to its musical originality, it is also a favourite in music lessons or for school orchestra performances. With this combination of a study edition and an edition in parts (for which additional parts for larger numbers of strings may be ordered), G. Henle Publishers now presents the perfect resource for such occasions.

G. Henle Publishers stands for Urtext sheet music of the highest quality. The Urtext editions not only provide the undistorted and authoritative musical text but are also aesthetically pleasing, optimised for practical use and extremely durable. And then there is the strong, distinctive blue profile: (almost) all of the Urtext editions are bound in the characteristic blue cardboard.

Musicians trust Henle's blue Urtext editions because they:

• provide an undistorted, reliable and authoritative musical text
• offer superb, aesthetically appealing music engraving
• are optimised for practical use (page turns, fingerings)
• are of high quality and durable (cover, paper, binding)
• contain a short preface that introduces the work (particularly useful for AMEB exams) in German, English and French, as well as explanatory footnotes for particularly interesting passages in the score
• contain a description of the sources, an evaluation of the sources, readings and a documentation of the corrections made (= "Critical Report") in German and English, and often also in French