Christoph Enzel

Le Carnaval des Animaux

Who does not know Carnival of the Animals with its music bursting with joy of living, grotesque humour, virtuosity and incomparable charm. Although its composer imposed a performance ban upon his work merely a few years after he had written the piece in February 1886, it is probably one of the best-known compositions within today's classical concert repertory. In spring 2004, I decided to venture on the task of arranging this piece - which was originally scored for two pianos, a string quartet, double bass, flute, clarinet and xylophone - for my saxophone quartet clair-obscur. With some movements everything worked out well right from the start; for others, however, there existed four of five different versions, which we tested, dismissed, altered until we finally found a perfect solution in the form of the arrangement on hand offering each musician of the quartet the opportunity to exhibit his or her talents as a soloist and, at the same time, as a member of the ensemble. Yet, this is not the only reason why this piece is one of the cornerstones of our present repertory: Innumerable performances - whether for children or in the concert hall, whether presented with the German comedian Loriot's well-known verses to accompany it or in its classical concertante version - have shown that this arrangement of Carnival of the Animals electrifies every audience. (Christoph Enzel)