Aquarium (2:39)

Aquarium is the seventh of fourteen movements from Le Carnaval des Animaux (The Carnival of the Animals) by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The orchestral work has a duration between 22 and 30 minutes.

The Aquarium piece was composed of strings without double-bass, two pianos, flute, and glass armonica: This is one of the more musically rich movements. The melody is played by the flute, backed by the strings, on top of tumultuous, glissando-like runs in the piano. The first piano plays a descending ten-on-one ostinato, while the second plays a six-on-one. These figures, plus the occasional glissando from the armonica—often played on celesta or glockenspiel—are evocative of a peaceful, dimly-lit aquarium.

According to British music journalist Fritz Spiegl, there is a recording of the movement featuring virtuoso harmonica player Tommy Reilly - apparently he was hired by mistake instead of a player of the glass armonica.