Commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra
First performance by Emily Sun, Emily Beauchamp (violins), Caroline Henbest (viola), Henry Say (cello), Phoebe Russell (double bass), Andrew Ford (narrator), Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Denise Glasgow Performing Arts Centre, Pimlico, Queensland, 31 July 2025
Program note
The similarity of my title to Saint-Saëns’s famous piece is further mirrored in the structure of fourteen short movements, twelve critters framed by a introduction (march) and finale. In Saint-Saëns’s case, the poems, by Ogdon Nash, came nearly thirty years after the composer’s death (and there have been various other sets of words penned since then). I asked Australia’s premiere poet of nature, John Kinsella, to write me words up front. How they are used in performance is up the the performers.
A.F.
Reviews
Andrew Ford narrated his tongue-in-cheek Carnival of the Insects. Based on John Kinsella texts, it recalls Saint-Saëns’ similarly titled iconic work. Each of the fourteen movements celebrated an insect. Sketches of a grasshopper, cockroach, bumble bee and stick insect were vividly portrayed by a scratch ensemble of string royalty.
Gillian Wills, Australian Arts Review