Hey Kids, Meet Camille Saint-Saëns
from the Hey Kids, Meet the Composer Index

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) French Romantic Era Composer

Charles Camille Saint-Saëns was born in Paris. His father was a government clerk who died 3 months after Charles' birth. At the request of his mother, Camille's great-aunt Charlotte moved in with them. She was the first to introduce him to the piano. Beginning piano lessons at the age of two, he came to be known as one of the outstanding child prodigies of his time. He almost immediately began to write music with his first composition for piano dated March 22, 1839. His talent was not limited to music, he also learned to read by age three and mastered Latin by age seven.

In 1886 Saint-Saëns premired one of his most beloved works - Le Carnaval des Animaux (The Carnival of the Animals). Shortly after its première, however, Saint-Saëns requested that the complete collection of pieces not be performed, allowing only a single movement, Le Cygne (The Swan), a piece for cello and two pianos, to be published during his lifetime. The Carnival of the Animals was written as a musical joke and Saint-Saëns believed it would harm his reputation as a serious composer. Instead this work has provided a testament to the imagination and musical brilliance of Camille Saint-Saëns impressing both ordinary listeners and music critics.

Homeschool Lesson Plans

Download a New Ringtone
Download Camille Saint-Saëns' a movement from The Carnival of the Animals as your cell phone's new ringtone. Ask your kids who the composer is, or facts about the composer. When the phone rings, you may find yourself asking, "Is that my phone?" often because you don't remember the ringtone, but your kids will be enriched.

Watch a DVD
Enjoy Jim Gamble's Puppet Productions presentation of Camille Saint-Saens classic musical tale available for $19.95 on DVD. It is hilariously funny!

Create a Wordfind
Create your own wordfind at puzzlemaker.com with the keywords from the biography. Take your scissors and cut off the part the shows the words used to create the search. Let them know how many words there are to find and then ask your child to complete the the wordfind by identifying the keywords found in the biography and circling them in the puzzle.

Watch a YouTube Video
Watch this YouTube video of Saint-Saens Cuckoo in the Woods from the The Carnival of the Animals. Take your kids on a Cuckoo bird hunt around the room. Looking and walking this way and that, pause everytime you hear the cuckoo bird. He chirps twenty-three times.

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