​Aquarium (Saint-Saens)

General Info

Year of Composition: 1886
Year of Published: 2011
Composer: Camille Saint-Saëns
Arrager: Matt Moore
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Difficulty: Grade 2
Duration: 2:30
Cost: $24.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Glockenspiel
Player 2: Xylophone 1
Player 3: Xylophone 2
Player 4: Vibraphone
Player 5: Marimba 1
Player 6: Marimba 2

Program Notes

As our percussion community continues to adapt great literature to the percussion ensemble genre, some works translate well and some don’t. Matt Moore’s arrangement of “Aquarium” from “Carnival of the Animals” for keyboard sextet lends itself beautifully to the percussion ensemble instrumentation and is tastefully and effectively adapted here. The arrangement is quite faithful to the original orchestral version—even in the same key—and the attention to detail in phrasing and musical shaping will greatly assist an intermediate ensemble in presenting a fulfilling performance.

Scored for six players but playable on four instruments, the xylophone and marimba parts both fit comfortably on a single instrument. Each keyboard part is playable with two mallets, but the first marimba part may be more comfortable with four. As with the original, the piece is set in common time with no key signature. There is significant use of accidentals and a few passages are quite chromatic, but the slow tempo and repeated sections still allow this to be graded at the intermediate level. The accompaniment figures that include thirty-second notes and sixteenth-note triplets in the original are simplified to sixteenth-note triplets and sixteenth notes respectively, but maintain the duple/triple texture. Additionally, the glass harmonica grace-note figures are realized in specific rhythmic notation, as are the piano rolls. Some of the original accidentals are changed from sharps to flats, presumably for readability, but it does prevent full consideration of Saint Saens’ original harmonic design.

The piece is less than 40 measures in length, but with a performance time of approximately 2½ minutes, it would function well as a percussion contribution to a band or orchestra performance or as a delicate contrast piece on a percussion ensemble concert.

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Solo

Downshift - Snare Drum
More of Us - Marimba
Music for Vibraphone and Electronica - Vibraphone, Electronics
PixelPop - Marimba
Quad Damage - Solo Tenor Drums
Sad Marimba & Mysterious Marimba - Marimba
Spicy Jam - Marimba
Surface - Marimba
Uma Para Ela - Marimba

Ensemble

​Aquarium (Saint-Saens) - Percussion Sextet
​Christmas Time is Here (Guaraldi) - Percussion Sextet
Cohesion - Percussion Duo
Critical Mass - Percussion Ensemble 12
Enchantment - Percussion Quintet
Imminent Launch - Percussion Quintet
OnRush - Percussion Quintet
Rocket Science - Percussion Sextet
Rogue Agent - Percussion Sextet
Seeing the World - Marimba Quartet
Stealing the Sandblade - Marimba Quartet
Symphony No. 5: Scherzo (Prokofiev) - Percussion Ensemble 12
Three Paintings for Marimba and Snare Drum - Percussion Duo
Together (Moore) - Marimba Quartet
Under Attack! - Percussion Quintet
Vector - Percussion Octet, Keyboards, Electronics
You Can Can-Can Too (Offenbach) - Percussion Octet