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Small wonder professional flutist Kenneth Chia well-honed in in a key musical instrument did his best to convince Jasmine Leong, President of SPArKS (Society for Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu Sabah) into staging 'Carnival of the Animals' in Sabah with a reputation for rich wildlife.
Chia duly assembled a high quality 12- piece orchestra to deliver live a master piece sonic description on the characteristic movements of the respective animals Saint-Saens had composed.
For laymen who have zero idea what musicians meant by ‘movements’, here we have done our best with Google’s help to unravel the main sonic elements of the14-movement suite.
Readers can untangle their own musical difficulty by imagining the 14-movement suite as a musical journey through ‘nature’s orchestra’ which the iconic animal movements depict
Movement 1: Introduction and Royal March of the Lion – It depicts the grand and stately procession of a lion - bold, majestic and full of pride. The introduction features a fanfare played by the two stirring pianos and strings, conducted by Kenneth Chia, heralding the lion’s arrival, followed by the main theme where the lion is portrayed as proudly marching through its favorite open woodland domain.
Movement 2: Hens and Roosters – playful with clucking rhythms mimicking barnyard birds. We have all seen how roosters strut cockily across the yard, occasionally cluck and bob their heads signaling their dominance over the hens (Sorry ladies).
Movement 3: Wild asses – depicts the speed and agility of the Tibetan wild donkey, represented by the rapid, high speed piano scales. The constant fast paced up-and-down motion of the two restless piano passages playing octaves (series of 8 notes in musical scale), create a sonic image of donkeys that captures their running at a remarkable speed.
Movement 4: Tortoises – A humorously slow version Can-Can by Offenbach, which refers to the Gallop Infernal – a famous piece of music composed by Jacques Offenbach for his 1858 operetta, Orpheus in the Underworld.
The high-energy frantic melody is now the music most famously associated with the French Can-Can dance, a fast, lively chorus line dance that involves high kicks and splits. Apparently, as a satire, Saint-Saens meant this to be a musical joke by taking a well-known very fast piece of music and deliberately slowing it down to an agonizing slow tempo tortoises act. Does it also poke fun at agonizing slow minds?
Movement 5: The Elephant – Did the packed audience see the joke? What a contrast between a graceful yet heavy-footed waltz performed by a double bass - the largest string instrument that portrays the massive body of The Elephant while the two pianos depict a light, waltzing accompaniment to create a musical joke of a super heavy animal dancing ! It’s pure satire.
Movement 6: Kangaroos – depicts the kangaroo’s lively bouncing and unpredictable hopping through its music which is characterized by sudden jumps , pauses and a playful rhythm.The pianos mimic the kangaroo’s energetic leaps. It’s a funny animal exclusive to fair-dinkum Australia for those who have seen these great ‘party hoppers’ (joke).
Movement 7: Aquarium – It depicts the peaceful and graceful movements of fish of all kinds swimming in an aquarium. With Kenneth Chia conducting, he commands shimmering, fluid musical textures to create an underwater atmosphere with violins playing a gentle, mysterious melody over piano accompaniment that suggests rippling water (flapper style). The overall effect is a serene motion – from quick darting fish to slow moving ones. .
Movement 8: Characters with Long Ears – Here, the violins are used to imitate the repetitive brays – loud, harsh cries or hee-hawing typical of donkeys which are a metaphor of music critics. Read enough, you will know Saint-Saens had his critics who called his music “superficial, lacking originality, technically perfect but unemotional.” Influential composers like Claude Debussy had made cutting remarks about his work. So the piece is a satirical jab at critical, harsh voices of musicians symbolized by the donkey. But are ‘Long Ears’ also a sarcastic jab at people who have unusually large ears for gossips, other people’s secrets and flaws?
Movement 9: The Cuckoo in the depths of the Woods – is a movement that depicts two things – a quiet, mysterious forest through the soft chords of the two pianos to create a sense of stillness or depth around it, and two, a distant cuckoo itself represented by an offstage clarinet playing a persistent two notes that mimics the distinctive sound of the bird.
Movement 10: Aviary – This movement depicts a birdcage filled with birds by using a rapid high-pitched flute solo (Chia’s special love) to mimic the sounds of birds singing, chirping, fluttering around. The two pianos provide a light background trill (vibratory sound) and “pings” ((short, high pitched ringing sound) to represent other bird in the enclosure.
Movement 11: Pianists – This movement is a satirical take on piano students laboring endlessly on practicing scales, for which piano teachers know best.
Movement 12: Fossils – The movement depicts dancing, ancient bones using the percussion xylophone’s clattering sound and quotes musical “fossils” from the well-known tunes “ Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stars” and Saint Saens’ own ‘Danse Macabre’ into a lively dance for a light-hearted percussive effect .Why is it called “fossiles” is a mystery.
Movement 13: The Swan – This is the Suites’ most famous movement of all. It depicts a swan gliding gracefully over water, combing romanticism and the natural beauty of the animal. The cello’s beautiful and lyrical melody, represents the swan’s serene, elegant and graceful movement while the pianos create a flowing, rippling effect with scales to mimic its feet padding under water. .
Movement 14: Finale – It depicts a grand parade where all the featured animals return for a triumphant, fast-paced conclusion. The movement brings back musical snippets from earlier pieces – the lion’s roar, cuckoo’s calls, kangaroo’s leaps etc before ending with a unified hurray from all.
SPArKS brings musical to life with a Sabah twist
‘THE Carnival of the Animals”, is a vibrant and imaginative interpretation of French composer, Camille Saint-Saëns’s beloved musical suite.
Composed in 1886, “Le Carnaval des animaux” is one of Saint-Saëns’s most famous works – witty, playful and full of musical humour.
SPArKS brought Saint-Saens’ master piece to life with a new Sabah twist.
Originally written as a private joke among friends and never intended for public performance during the composer’s lifetime, it has since become a timeless favourite for both adults and children.
The suite consists of 14 movements, written for a small orchestra and two pianos, each depicting different animals through sound and rhythm.
SPArKS’s production aims to highlight the accessibility and joy of classical music, particularly for families and younger audiences.
The production also reflects a recent global revival of the piece following the 100th anniversary of Saint-Saëns’s death in 2021, marked by performances from world-renowned artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Peppin.
The idea for the production was first proposed by Kenneth Chia, Principal of the Kinabalu Flute Centre, following the success of SPArKS’s 2023 staging of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.
Kenneth approached me with the idea about a year ago.
We wanted to make this classic piece engaging and relatable to the KK community while showing that classical music can be fun and inclusive.
A 12-piece orchestra was assembled by Kenneth Chia, on behalf of SPArKS, through local auditions, featuring two professional pianists and a host of Sabah-born musicians led by pianists Euler Edwin Majanil and Stoffel Seah anchoring the performance, supported by Joynner Junior Hermon (first violin and concertmaster), Dominic Fong (violin), Oscar Chong (violin), Glory Roslily (violin), Lucas Tay (viola), Jeorgein Oh (cello), Charlotte See To (cello), Abigail Chung (contrabass), Jessica Jossly (flute) and Nur Ain binti Ramdan Saleh (percussion) and sole international guest musician Kenneth Zhong (flute) from Singapore.
Unlike Peter and the Wolf, The Carnival of the Animals has no fixed storyline, so SPArKS enlisted Laura Rikono, a British-born editor residing in Sabah, to write a storytelling-style script to guide the audience through each musical scene and reveal Saint-Saëns’s sense of humour and intent. She told the story through Luna, played by Muriel Wong, an experienced cosplayer in KK.
Once the music and narration were in place, I turned my attention to the visual storytelling.
As the Artistic Director, I took a bold step by pairing multiple dance genres with the various movements of the suite – a decision that brings the composer’s wit and creativity to life on stage.
Saint-Saëns wrote this music with a twinkle in his eye.
We wanted to capture that same sense of fun by letting each movement take on its own personality through different dance styles.
The production features an extraordinary range of local talent:
*The NanShan Lion Dance Troupe performs to the Lion and Elephant movements – believed to be the first time in history a lion dance troupe has performed to classical music.
*Vanesa Chung Martinez, professional pole instructor and dancer, interprets Aquarium and Cuckoo with fluidity and imagination.
*Brian Hiew, contemporary Krump and hip-hop dancer, brings dynamic energy to Tortoises, People with Long Ears (a jab at music critics), and Fossils.
*Ballet elements are woven in led by Leong along with Sharon Ng and Joan Lu of Alpha Ballet, choreographing Hens and Chickens, Kangaroos, Wild Donkeys, Aviary, and The Swan – the only movement performed en pointe in homage to its iconic cello solo.
Local dance, drama and music students were also invited to participate, so there was a transfer of skills from the professional to the next generation.
Dancers: Shanen Isabelle Santani, Erin Cheong, Faith Kennedy, Athena Chong, Lynn Low, Arthur Rikono, Ocyanne Ancrenaz, Bethany Chung Ching, Poh Tun Min, Tara Yinn Oh, Mya Lim and Araceli Cini-Chung. Drama students were led by children Serene Leilana Chia, Chloe Esperanza Buri, Emiliana Cini-Chung and Idris Riza.
It’s been a wonderful collaboration. Seeing different genres of dance come together with local musicians to tell Saint-Saëns’s story has been inspiring. I think it’s the first time in Sabah we’ve had such a fusion of art forms – and definitely the first lion dance to classical music!”
This marks the first orchestra ever assembled under SPArKS, a milestone the organisation plans to build upon in future productions.
We’re incredibly proud that nearly every performer and musician involved is Sabahan.
This show proves that world-class performances can come from local talent.
By Jasmine Leong who is the Artistic Director and SPArKS President 2024-26
