Le Cygne

''Le cygne'', , or ''The Swan'', is the 13th and penultimate movement of ''The Carnival of the Animals'' by Camille Saint-Saëns. Originally scored for solo cello accompanied by two pianos, it has been arranged and transcribed for many instruments but remains best known as a cello solo.

Music

The piece is in 6/4 time, with a key signature of G major and a tempo marking ''andantino grazioso''. The slow cello melody is accompanied by almost constant broken chord figurations on the pianos. When performed as a separate movement, not in the context of ''The Carnival'', ''The Swan'' is frequently played with accompaniment on only one piano.

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

Because of its slow tempo and mostly legato performance indications, the movement is suitable for performance on the theremin and has joined Sergei Rachmaninoff's ''Vocalise'' and Jules Massenet's '' Méditation'' from his opera ''Thaïs'' among the classical works central to the theremin repertoire.

Uses in choreography

''Le cygne'' is often known as ''The Dying Swan'', after a poem by Tennyson. 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. 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
. Eventually the piece came to be considered one of Pavlova's trademarks.

In 1949 the American synchronized swimmer Beulah Gundling created a routine inspired by Fokine's choreography and entitled ''The swan'' to ''Le cygne'' by Saint-Saëns.

In 2018, Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu performed a program at the Winter Olympic Exhibition Gala to the song ''Notte Stellata'' by Italian trio Il Volo, with choreography by David Wilson (figure skating). The song is set to the music of ''Le Cygne'' and choreography is inspired by that of Fokine.

Transcriptions and adaptations

In the 1890s, Louis van Waefelghem adapted ''Le cygne'' for viola or viola d'amore and piano. The edition was published by Durand in 1895.

In Leonard Bernstein's famous recording of the piece with the New York Philharmonic the melody is performed on double bass by a 20-year-old Gary Karr.

Montserrat Caballé recorded a version in which she vocalizes sections of the melody accompanied by a piano.

In the early 20th century, Clara Rockmore, the renowned thereminist, performed it on theremin with her sister Nadia Reisenberg accompanying her on the piano.

Steven Mead arranged the piece for Euphonium and Piano in 1995, in the key of E♭ Major.

Tony Renis created lyrics for Le Cygne to create the song “Notte Stellata” that appeared on Italian pop-opera trio Il Volo’s '' self-titled debut album''.

A jazz version was created by the Italian ensemble No Trio for Cats in 2021 under the title ''O Cisne de Janeiro''.

References

External links

Public-domain scores and recordings in the Petrucci Music Library
MP3 file of Le cygnePerformance
of Le cygne

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cygne
Chamber music by Camille Saint-Saëns
1886 compositions
Music about swans
Articles containing video clips