Highly virtuoso editing

Even if Camille Saint-Saëns did not want his Carnaval des Animaux wanted to avoid during his lifetime: Today, the "Grande Fantaisie Zoologique" is undoubtedly one of his most frequently performed works and has gained a firm place in family and children's concerts in particular. To mark the 100th anniversary of the composer's death, the South Korean-born concert organist Shin-Young Lee, who works in France, presents a transcription for solo organ that offers a new perspective on the composer's work. Carnaval allowed. The cycle is commercially available in at least two other complete organ arrangements, in addition to numerous arrangements of the Swansincluding the historical transcription by Félix Alexandre Guilmant.

Lee's arrangement (which she also interprets in an atmospheric Youtube recording) is relatively close to Jean Guillou's transcription aesthetic, and is thus oriented towards a highly virtuosic approach (pedal trills, double pedal in movements such as the Aquarium or the Aviary) to confident players. The arranger also assumes (unfortunately without giving any alternatives) a modern instrument with a manual range of 61 keys and a pedal that reaches up to g' (e.g. for the Swan), and the proposed, colorful registrations also suggest a lavishly arranged organ. Without going into the difficult question of the setting in which such arrangements can find their place: With the appropriate playing technique and on a suitable instrument, the Carnaval will not miss its effect in this version!

Camille Saint-Saëns: Le Carnaval des Animaux, organ arrangement by Shin-Young Lee, ED 23492, € 16.00, Schott, Mainz