Poetry & Music
The Swan (after Saint-Saëns)
Inspired by the gorgeous piece which led him to compose his most famous work
And I’m far from the only one to be inspired by it. The sublime musical portrait of this most graceful waterbird was originally written to mark the retirement of his friend, the cellist Charles Joseph Lebouc. But charmed himself by the natural world he adored, Saint-Saëns went on to compose his unique and sparkling suite, Carnival of the Animals, a delightful musical celebration of the weird and wonderful fellow creatures who adorn our world and enchant us.
By turns humorous, mysterious, and moving, the work consists of thirteen vignettes, each representing a particular animal, including that most talented of creatures, the human pianist! Saint-Saëns’ beautiful swan is naturally placed in starring position at the end, just before all the animals come together to dance the delightfully rousing finale.
I was developing my poetry concerts at the time I wrote the following. With a performance background, including classical music, I didn’t want to remain invisible to my audience - a back-room poet, hidden by the essentially solitary nature of writing as a creative art.
I wanted to perform my poetic compositions in person - and music simply had to…
