Elementary Spring Music Program a Success!
by Stephanie Mencel
The LaHarpe Elementary music students have spent the second semester studying the music of Camille Saint Saens, a famous nineteenth century French composer. Camille Saint Saens was a child prodigy whose proficiency on the piano and love for music culminated in him becoming a very successful composer and performer. His music compositions were appealing and pleasant to the ear. One of Saint Saens’ most famous works was the “Carnival of the Animals,” an orchestral suite of pieces written about animals and intended to be a musical joke for Shrove Tuesday. This is the day Carnival is celebrated in Paris France.
The LaHarpe elementary students studied the suite by listening to the instrumental music and discussing the instruments that were chosen to play each piece. They discussed how Saint Saens used those specific instruments and the way he composed the music to imitate the different animals who title the works; Lions, Hens and Roosters, Mules, Tortoises, Elephants, Kangaroos, Fish, Donkeys, Cuckoo Birds, Dinosaur Fossils, and Swans.
In March, the students began preparation for their performance of the “Carnival of the Animals,” a children’s musical based on the original music of Saint Saens but with lyrics added. The students, dressed in their animal masks, performed 10 songs on stage for their parents and grandparents on Family Day at LaHarpe Elementary School on Friday, April 2nd.
Elementary Spring Music Program a Success!
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