Le Cygne captures the idea of a swimming swan.

Le Cygne, or The Swan, is the thirteenth movement of The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns. Le Carnaval des Animaux ( The Carnival of the Animals) is a Musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (/ʃaʁl kamij sɛ̃sɑ̃s/ (9 October 1835 &ndash 16 December 1921 was a French Composer, Organist, conductor, and This piece features a solo cello in tenor clef and an accompaniment piano. The violoncello (abbreviated to cello, or 'cello, plural cellos or celli —the c is tʃ A clef (from the French for "key" is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes.

Music

The piece is in 6/4 time, with a key signature of G major. It makes use of legato and slurring, the music should flow like a swan gliding through the water. This piece is often played using much vibrato. Vibrato is a musical effect produced in singing and on musical instruments by a regular pulsating change of pitch, and is used to add expression and vocal-like qualities to

This is the only movement from the Carnival of the Animals that the composer would allow to be played in public during his lifetime as he thought the remaining movements were too frivolous and would damage his reputation as a serious composer.

The piece was written in tenor clef, although there are some arrangements in bass clef. A clef (from the French for "key" is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes.

Because the high range of the cello is displayed in this piece, the voice is often misnamed as the violin. The cello, however, has an extremely large range and can play in this register, and its tones are rounder and more mellow.

The Swan

From The Carnival of the Animals. Le Carnaval des Animaux ( The Carnival of the Animals) is a Musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Performed by John Mitchel

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

Uses in choreography

Further information: The Dying Swan

Le Cygne is often known as The Dying Swan, after a poem by Tennyson. The Dying Swan is a Ballet dance Choreographed to the music Le Cygne composed in 1866 by Camille Saint-Saëns. Inspired by swans that she had seen in public parks, Anna Pavlova worked with choreographer Michel Fokine, who had read the poem, to create the famous 1905 solo ballet dance which is now closely associated with this music. Anna Pavlovna Pavlova (А́нна Па́вловна Па́влова (&ndash 23 January, 1931) was a famous Russian Ballerina of the late See also Michel Fokine (a French transliteration English transliteration Mikhail Fokin; from Михаил Михайлович Фокин, Mikhaíl Mikháylovich Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting According to tradition, the swan in Pavlova's dance is badly injured and dying. However, Maya Plisetskaya re-interpreted the swan simply as elderly and stubbornly resisting the effects of aging; much like herself (she performed The Swan at a gala on her 70th birthday). Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (Майя Михайловна Плисецкая born November 20, 1925) is a retired Russian Ballet dancer The piece has also been widely used in figure skating, notably by American skater Johnny Weir, who skated to it at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Figure skating is an athletic Sport in which individuals pairs or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging Personal life Weir was born in Coatesville Chester County Pennsylvania (sometimes referred The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, were a Winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated in ^[1]

See also

• Camille Saint-Saëns
• Carnival of the Animals
• Swan
• Romantic music
• Cello

External links

• MP3 file of Le Cygne
• Performance of Le Cygne