The Can-can is two minutes of fast, silly music for orchestra. Jacques Offenbach wrote it in Paris in 1858 for a comic opera called Orpheus in the Underworld. Its real title is the “Infernal Galop.” In the story, the gods of ancient Greece hold a wild party and dance it.
Quick facts
- Composer: Jacques Offenbach, who lived from 1819 to 1880
- From: the comic opera Orpheus in the Underworld
- First staged: Paris, 1858
- Length: about 2 minutes
- Beat: two fast beats in a bar
- Real title: Infernal Galop
The story it comes from
An old Greek myth tells of Orpheus, a musician whose wife, Eurydice, dies. He travels to the underworld to bring her back.
Offenbach turned the myth into a joke. In his version, Orpheus and Eurydice cannot stand each other. The gods on Mount Olympus are bored. They all go down to the underworld for a party, and at the end of it they dance a galop.
The audience in Paris laughed at the gods and their poor manners. Some critics were shocked, and that sold more tickets.
Galop and can-can
A galop is a fast dance in two beats, named for a horse’s gallop. It was often the last dance of the night at a ball.
The can-can was a high-kicking dance from the dance halls of Paris. Dancers later took up Offenbach’s tune for it, and the two have gone together since. That is how a galop for Greek gods became known as the Can-can.
Read dances in classical music.
What to listen for
| Part | What happens |
|---|---|
| The wind-up | A quick, quiet tune in the strings |
| The famous tune | The whole orchestra bursts in. The tune kicks up and tumbles down. |
| Round and round | The tunes come back, louder each time. |
| The finish | Crashing chords, and a bang. |
The tortoise joke
In The Carnival of the Animals, Saint-Saëns wrote a piece called “Tortoises.” The strings play Offenbach’s Can-can tune at a slow, heavy pace. A fast dance turns into a crawl.
Play the two pieces back to back. See the Carnival guide.
Where you may have heard it
The tune turns up in cartoons, films, and advertisements, most often when something is frantic or funny. The overture that orchestras play in concerts ends with it too. Read what is an overture?
Things to do together
Kick line. Stand in a row with arms on each other’s shoulders. Kick in time. Rest when you need to.
Fast and slow. Dance to the Can-can. Then play “Tortoises,” and dance the same steps in slow motion.
Run on the spot. Run in place for the quiet wind-up. Jump when the famous tune bursts in.
Clean-up race. Play it while everyone tidies the room. Stop when the music stops.
Clap in two. Clap “ONE, two, ONE, two” as fast as the music goes.
Guess the story. Before you tell the story, ask your child what kind of party this music is for.
Questions to ask
- How fast is this music compared with your heartbeat?
- What would you do at a party with this music?
- Why is the slow version funny?
- Which instruments are the loudest?
Words to know
- Galop: a fast dance in two beats
- Operetta: a light, funny opera with spoken lines
- Parody: a joke version of a serious story
- Underworld: in Greek myth, the land of the dead
Print and play
Draw the party on a listening journal page. Find the speed with the metronome for kids. Read Offenbach for kids and funny classical music for kids.
More from this guide
This article is part of Classical music listening guides for kids: famous pieces, one at a time.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.