Recognize the music?
Camille Saint-Saens
Song: Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals
In stores: Now
Why we care: Twice last week — once on Sirius radio, the other as the trailer soundtrack for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — I came across this puckishly ominous piece of classical music and immediately said, "Danny Elfman." My father seconded that: "Sounds like music from a Tim Burton movie." We were both wrong. It’s the seventh movement from 1886’s Carnival of the Animals by French composer Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921). It’s mesmerizing music box for those shadowy hours past your bedtime.
Why we like it: There are several versions of Aquarium, but you can’t go wrong with Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic or Arthur Fiedler with the Boston Pops.
Reminds us of: Edward Scissorhands
Grade: A