101: Camille Saint-Saëns - The Carnival of the Animals (1886)

John was always going to tackle a classical work for the podcast at some point, it was just a matter of finding the right piece. For our first visit to the orchestral hall, Discord & Rhyme is also taking a trip to the circus by covering The Carnival of the Animals, a 25-minute suite of musical jokes that 19th century French composer Camille Saint-Saëns wrote to put off writing the symphony he’d been paid to write. The Carnival of the Animals was John’s introduction to classical music as a kid, and when he fell back in love with classical music in his late 20s he was delighted to find that he still loved this piece (even without the silly poems in his version from when he was a kid). John (host), Mike (moderator), and returning special guest Sean Rodgers had a wonderful, in-depth conversation, ranging from the niche (like John’s love of birdsong in classical music), to the serious (like Saint-Saëns’ feelings about the musical world changing around him more than he liked), to the ridiculous (the notion of a tortoise doing the world’s slowest can-can). Come listen to us make the case that classical music is for everyone, and that The Carnival of the Animals is one of the funnest gateways to classical music anyone has ever written.

Cohosts: John McFerrin, Mike DeFabio, Sean Rodgers, Amanda Rodgers

Complete show notes: https://discordpod.com/listen/101-camille-saint-sans-the-carnival-of-the-animals-1886

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