Saint-Saëns’s The Swan — From a Private Musical Gathering to the World Stage

Classical Music Through Human Connections #12
The Story of Saint-Saëns and Cellist Charles-Joseph Lebouc

Camille Saint-Saëns’s The Swan (Le Cygne).

Over a gently flowing accompaniment, the cello unfolds a long, graceful melody. Today, it is one of the most beloved pieces in the cello repertoire, performed and admired throughout the world.

Yet the history of this familiar music is rather unusual.

The Swan was originally the thirteenth movement of The Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnaval des animaux), a suite of fourteen musical portraits.

Saint-Saëns did not, however, wish to see the complete work published during his lifetime. Among its fourteen movements, only one was granted an exception.

That exception was The Swan.

Why was this particular movement allowed to reach the public when the rest of the suite remained unpublished?

The answer leads us to a French cellist whose contribution to the history of the piece is often overlooked: Charles-Joseph Lebouc (1822–1893).

The story of The Swan began not in a grand concert hall, but at a private musical gathering organized by Lebouc in Paris.

1886: Saint-Saëns and His Musical Menagerie

In February 1886, Saint-Saëns was in Austria following an unexpectedly shortened concert tour. During this period, the composer wrote The Carnival of the Animals, a collection of fourteen short pieces with the subtitle Grande Fantaisie zoologique (Grand Zoological Fantasy).

Lions, hens and roosters, tortoises, elephants, kangaroos, fish, birds and fossils all make an appearance.

Some of the supposed animals, however, are not animals at all.

One movement is devoted to Pianists, portrayed as though they were another curious species in the musical menagerie.

In Fossils, Saint-Saëns quotes familiar melodies, including a theme from his own Danse macabre. The movement depicting tortoises transforms a lively melody from Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld into an extraordinarily slow procession.

The Carnival of the Animals is therefore much more than a collection of musical descriptions. It is also a sophisticated entertainment filled with quotations, parody and humor that fellow musicians would have particularly appreciated.

A Premiere Among Friends: Charles-Joseph Lebouc’s Concert

The Carnival of the Animals received its first performance on March 9, 1886, at a private concert organized by the Parisian cellist Charles-Joseph Lebouc.

The date was Mardi Gras, the traditional day of carnival celebrations.

Some of the leading musicians of Paris took part in the performance. Saint-Saëns himself played one of the two pianos, alongside the pianist Louis Diémer. The flute part was performed by Paul Taffanel, one of the most influential flutists of the nineteenth century.

The cello solo in the thirteenth movement, The Swan, was played by Lebouc, the organizer of the concert.

Today, the music is heard in concert halls throughout the world. Its first audience, however, was not a large gathering of the general public, but a relatively small circle of musicians and invited guests.

What began as an entertainment among friends would eventually become one of the most recognizable works in classical music.

Who Was Charles-Joseph Lebouc?

Charles-Joseph Lebouc (1822–1893) was a French cellist, composer and teacher.

Lebouc studied at the Paris Conservatoire and pursued a career as a cellist while also working as a composer, educator and organizer of musical events.

Through his involvement in the Parisian musical community, Lebouc developed a connection with Saint-Saëns. The annual carnival concert provided an opportunity for the composer to write music specifically for Lebouc and the other participating performers.

Lebouc’s contribution to The Swan did not end with its first performance. His next step would have a lasting influence on the way the piece came to be performed.

From Two Pianos to One: How Lebouc Transformed the Score

In the original version of The Carnival of the Animals, The Swan is scored for solo cello and two pianos.

This original instrumentation can be verified in Saint-Saëns’s surviving autograph manuscript, now preserved in the Music Department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the shelfmark MS 2456.

The thirteenth movement, Cygne, occupies folios 42 recto to 45 verso of the manuscript.

In modern performances, however, The Swan is most often heard as a piece for cello and a single piano.

This familiar version is not identical to the original. It was prepared by Charles-Joseph Lebouc with the composer’s permission.

Lebouc retained the first piano part, which contains the essential structure of the accompaniment, and removed most of the second piano part, which contributes additional colors and textures to the original.

According to the critical commentary in G. Henle Verlag’s Urtext edition, Lebouc nevertheless incorporated elements of the second piano at two particular points. In measure 21, the bass line is reinforced, while in measure 23, a chord from the second piano is transferred to the first.

Other changes, including a slower tempo indication and the addition of fermatas in the final measure, helped establish the piece as an independent cello solo.

The version most frequently performed today is therefore more than a simple reduction in the number of instruments. It reflects Lebouc’s careful adaptation of the original accompaniment for a different performance setting.

In 1887, the arrangement for cello and one piano was published in Paris by Durand & Schoenewerk, with the plate number D.S. 3767.

Comparing Saint-Saëns’s autograph manuscript with Lebouc’s 1887 edition reveals how The Swan was transformed from a movement within a chamber-music suite into a self-contained work for cello and piano.

Both historical sources can be consulted through the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP).

Why Did Saint-Saëns Refuse to Publish The Carnival of the Animals?

One of the most intriguing aspects of The Carnival of the Animals is that Saint-Saëns did not permit the complete suite to be published during his lifetime.

The decision is often explained by the work’s humorous character and the composer’s concern for his reputation as a serious musician. Yet the surviving correspondence and the circumstances surrounding the work suggest a more complex story.

Saint-Saëns had already considered the possibility of withholding the work from publication before its premiere.

In a letter to his publisher, Auguste Durand, dated February 9, 1886, the composer described the large work he was preparing for the forthcoming Mardi Gras celebrations. He also indicated that it was destined to become part of his posthumous works.

The idea of keeping The Carnival of the Animals unpublished was therefore not simply a reaction to its unexpected popularity. Even during its creation, Saint-Saëns appears to have regarded it differently from the major works on which his reputation rested.

A Musical Joke with Roots in Saint-Saëns’s Teaching

The playful spirit of The Carnival of the Animals had roots in Saint-Saëns’s earlier career.

About twenty years before composing the suite, Saint-Saëns taught at the École Niedermeyer in Paris, a school specializing in religious music.

During his teaching years, he was known for using short musical parodies to enliven his lessons. These humorous inventions made a lasting impression on his students.

The same spirit can be recognized in The Carnival of the Animals, where familiar musical ideas are transformed through changes of tempo, instrumentation and character.

Offenbach’s lively music becomes a slow procession of tortoises. Familiar tunes are assembled into a musical collection of fossils, while pianists themselves become the subjects of gentle mockery.

Beneath the apparently lighthearted surface lies a remarkable command of musical form, quotation and instrumental color.

For Saint-Saëns, however, this sophisticated musical entertainment occupied a different place from the symphonies, concertos, chamber music and stage works through which he had built his career.

When a Musical Entertainment Became Too Successful

The premiere on March 9, 1886, was a considerable success. Further performances followed, and the work attracted attention among the musicians and invited audiences who heard it.

The enthusiastic response appears to have strengthened Saint-Saëns’s concerns about the place the suite might occupy in his musical legacy.

As discussed in the preface to G. Henle Verlag’s edition of The Swan, the composer wished to prevent this humorous work from overshadowing other compositions that he considered far more significant.

The difficulty was not merely that The Carnival of the Animals might be regarded as frivolous. Its very popularity threatened to make it more prominent than works to which Saint-Saëns attached greater artistic importance.

A piece written for a carnival gathering could become the music most closely associated with the composer, eclipsing the more ambitious works that represented years of serious effort.

Seen in this light, the publication restriction was also an attempt to influence how his achievements would be remembered.

In 1911, Saint-Saëns formally reaffirmed his wishes in his will, allowing the complete suite to be published only after his death.

Why Was The Swan the Only Exception?

Despite these restrictions, Saint-Saëns made an extraordinary exception for the thirteenth movement.

In 1886, he gave Lebouc permission to arrange and publish The Swan as an independent work.

Why was this particular movement treated differently?

The surviving evidence does not establish a single definitive explanation. The musical character of The Swan, however, offers an important clue.

Unlike many of the other movements in The Carnival of the Animals, The Swan contains little of the overt parody or musical satire that characterizes the suite.

Its expressive center is a sustained, lyrical cello melody, supported by a gently moving accompaniment.

Removed from its original setting, the music functions naturally as an independent concert piece.

There was also a personal connection. The cellist for whom the movement had been written was Charles-Joseph Lebouc, who had organized the original performance and maintained a friendly relationship with the composer.

The combination of the music’s lyrical character and the relationship between composer and performer helps explain how The Swan came to enjoy a freedom denied to the rest of the suite.

The Other Animals Remained Hidden, but The Swan Took Flight

Saint-Saëns died in December 1921. In February 1922, almost thirty-six years after its composition, the complete score of The Carnival of the Animals was finally published.

By that time, The Swan had already established a long history as an independent work.

It had first been heard in 1886 as a movement for cello and two pianos at Lebouc’s carnival concert. In 1887, the arrangement for cello and one piano was published, allowing the music to circulate as a separate composition.

New performances and arrangements followed, carrying the melody beyond the musical circle in which it had originated.

While the other thirteen movements remained unpublished as part of the complete suite, The Swan had already found its way into the wider musical world.

Why Was the Cello Given the Leading Role?

The cello’s central role in The Swan is closely connected to the circumstances of the suite’s creation.

The Carnival of the Animals was intended for Lebouc’s annual carnival concert, and Saint-Saëns wrote the solo passages with the participating musicians in mind.

In his letter to Auguste Durand of February 9, 1886, the composer specifically mentioned solo passages for Lebouc, Taffanel and other performers.

The cello melody of the thirteenth movement was performed by Lebouc himself.

The character of the cello is particularly well suited to the music. Its ability to sustain a long, singing phrase gives the melody an almost vocal quality.

Meanwhile, the two pianos in the original score maintain a continuous pattern of delicate movement beneath the cello.

The contrast suggests a swan gliding effortlessly across the surface of a lake while the water moves gently below.

Although the melody is not especially complicated, its simplicity places great demands on the performer.

Every change of color, every connection between notes and every subtle movement of the phrase becomes important.

For cellists, The Swan is therefore much more than an attractive miniature. It is a piece in which the quality of the sound and the art of musical phrasing are constantly exposed.

From the Concert Hall to the Ballet Stage: Anna Pavlova and The Dying Swan

The journey of The Swan did not end with its publication as a cello piece. In the early twentieth century, the music found a new form of expression through dance.

The two central figures in this transformation were the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova and the choreographer Michel Fokine, also known as Mikhail Fokine.

According to the preface to Henle’s edition, Saint-Saëns gave his approval for a ballet adaptation in 1905 at Pavlova’s request. The work subsequently became associated with Fokine’s choreography for Pavlova, first performed in 1907.

The short ballet became famous as The Dying Swan, transforming Saint-Saëns’s instrumental miniature into one of the best-known solo works in ballet history.

The meaning of the music changed through this new interpretation.

In The Carnival of the Animals, the music evokes the image of a swan moving gracefully across the water. On the ballet stage, Pavlova’s movements transformed the same melody into a portrayal of a swan struggling through the final moments of its life.

Music written by Saint-Saëns had been brought into the wider concert repertoire through Lebouc’s arrangement. Through Fokine and Pavlova, it acquired another artistic identity.

The history of The Swan shows how a musical work can continue to evolve through its encounters with performers and artists from different generations.

The Unexpected Fate of Saint-Saëns’s Musical Joke

There is a certain irony in the history of The Carnival of the Animals.

Saint-Saëns was concerned that this humorous composition might overshadow works to which he attached greater importance. Yet today, The Carnival of the Animals is among the compositions most readily associated with his name.

The Swan, in particular, has become an independent classic, continuing to be performed in concert halls and ballet theaters throughout the world.

A composer’s personal assessment of a work does not necessarily determine how later generations will receive it.

The remarkable afterlife of The Carnival of the Animals offers a particularly striking example of this difference between artistic intention and historical reception.

Performing The Swan as a Flute Duet

In the original composition, the cello carries the long, expressive melody. When the same music is performed on the flute, a different range of colors and expressive possibilities emerges.

The cello’s deep, warm tone gives way to the flute’s lighter, more transparent sound.

In an arrangement for two flutes, one instrument can sing the principal melody while the other provides the gentle movement of the accompaniment, creating a new interpretation of the musical image.

As with the original, the greatest challenge is not the number of notes but the way each phrase is shaped and sustained.

Breath, tone color, balance and the subtle connections between notes become essential elements of the performance.

The apparent simplicity of The Swan makes it particularly revealing. With so little to conceal the musical line, the individual character and expressive choices of the performers become immediately apparent.

The Swan’s Journey: From Lebouc’s Concert to the World

The story of The Swan begins with a friendship and a private musical gathering.

In 1886, Charles-Joseph Lebouc performed the cello solo at the premiere of The Carnival of the Animals. With Saint-Saëns’s permission, the music was subsequently adapted and published as an independent work for cello and piano.

In the twentieth century, Anna Pavlova and Michel Fokine carried the melody into the world of ballet. Over time, numerous arrangements introduced the piece to performers of other instruments.

Without Lebouc’s concert, or his decision to prepare a version for cello and piano, the history of The Swan might have unfolded very differently.

A composition first heard among friends became an independent concert piece, inspired a celebrated ballet and eventually entered the repertoire of musicians across the world.

Few works illustrate the history of classical music through human connections quite as beautifully as The Swan.

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The Swan — Flute Duet Sheet Music

Our arrangement of The Swan for two flutes is included in Flute Duo Masterpieces Vol. 2, a collection of 25 pieces for flute duet.

▶ Explore Flute Duo Masterpieces Vol. 2 and view the sheet music

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People Behind the Music

• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) — French composer of The Carnival of the Animals. Although he restricted the publication of the complete suite during his lifetime, he permitted The Swan to be published separately.
• Charles-Joseph Lebouc (1822–1893) — French cellist who organized the premiere of The Carnival of the Animals and performed the cello solo in The Swan. With the composer’s permission, he prepared the version for cello and one piano.
• Anna Pavlova (1881–1931) — Russian ballerina whose interpretation of The Dying Swan gave Saint-Saëns’s music a new identity in the world of ballet.
• Michel Fokine (1880–1942) — Russian choreographer who created The Dying Swan for Pavlova.
• Paul Taffanel (1844–1908) — French flutist and conductor who participated in the premiere of The Carnival of the Animals. He was one of the leading figures in the development of the modern French flute tradition.

Sources and Further Reading

• Camille Saint-Saëns, Le Carnaval des animaux, autograph manuscript, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Music Department, MS 2456. No. 13, Cygne, fol. 42r–45v. BnF catalogue and manuscript.
• Camille Saint-Saëns, Le Cygne, version for cello and piano prepared by Charles-Joseph Lebouc. Paris: Durand & Schœnewerk, 1887, Plate D.S. 3767.
• Frank Buchstein, preface to Camille Saint-Saëns, The Swan from The Carnival of the Animals, G. Henle Verlag, HN 943. Read the editorial preface (PDF).
• G. Henle Verlag, Camille Saint-Saëns, Le Carnaval des animaux, HN 939.
• Bibliothèque nationale de France, Camille Saint-Saëns: Le carnaval des animaux, facsimile edition presented by Marie-Gabrielle Soret. BnF Éditions.
• Philharmonie de Paris, Le Carnaval des animaux, historical and musical documentation.
• International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), Le Carnaval des animaux, autograph manuscript and early printed editions. View the historical scores.
• Showa University of Music, Ballet Archive, The Dying Swan, historical performance records. Ballet Archive.
• Victoria and Albert Museum, historical materials relating to Anna Pavlova and The Swan.