The "Roman Carnival" Overture is a short concert piece written by Hector Berlioz who repurposed much of the music from the carnival scene from his less-than-popular opera, "Benvenuto Cellini."
The Roman carnival of which Berlioz wrote dates back at least to the 15th century. The celebration takes place annually on the eight days preceding Lent, which, in Roman Catholic and other Christian religions, is a 40-day season for fasting, denial and repentance. In fact, the word "carnival" comes a Latin phrase which means "to remove meat."
In Rome, and in many parts of the world, Carnival gave people, as one reference put it, “license to transgress.” Celebrants wore masks and costumes, held entertainments, presented art shows, attended parties and marched or danced in parades. Allegedly, brawling and indiscretions were tolerated. And revelers consumed copious quantities of meat at lavish banquets until Ash Wednesday when they began their fasts.
For our carnivorous wildlife, this time of year the pickings are getting mighty slim. Late winter is essentially a famine so coyotes and foxes are hungry.
Their luck changes when a deer is hit by a car. Not good for passengers, the car or the insurance company, but cause for a carnival of the animals.
You see, even packs of coyotes rarely are able to pull down a healthy deer, but an injured or dead deer leads to a joyous communal eating orgy! A deer is stripped to the bone by the larger and more aggressive animals, yet there usually enough left for carrion-eating birds (from chickadees to crows and eagles) and once the meat is gone small mammals build up their calcium reserves by chewing the bones.
I am not recommending a week of reveling, immoral behavior or overindulgence — and I certainly hope you don’t hit a deer — but if you can’t make it to New Orleans or Rio you can celebrate the season by listening to the many exuberant pieces of music written about Carnival and maybe enjoy a few pączki.
