Classical music inspired by animals: 5 imaginative pieces
When we try to think of classical music inspired by animals, our minds tend to leap to the obvious examples, many of them composed in the 18th and 19th centuries. But composers today continue to take inspiration from animals – sometimes in the most eccentric and experimental of ways. Here are five of the most imaginative examples, plucked from different points in the evolution of classical music.
1.Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns
At a time when ‘outreach’ was not a word often bandied around in artistic circles, Camille Saint-Saëns did more than most composers to introduce children to classical music. This piece, in which he used various musical techniques to imitate animal sounds and movements, such as the pecking of hens or the leaping of kangaroos, is full of charm and imagination. Yet, Saint-Saëns initially intended this as a private joke for his friends, and even prohibited public performances of the work during his lifetime, fearing that it would damage his reputation as a serious composer.
2. Pigstrument by Marie Caye
To some, the concept of a pig playing music might be somewhat absurd. Not, however, to the designer Marie Caye, who, in 2017, exhibited her Pigstrument – a complex and durable wooden structure featuring tubular bells designed for pigs to play with their snouts. The project, which saw Caye donning a ‘Pig Empathy Suit’ in the interests of research, might sound experimental. But according to Caye, it was about more than experimentalism for its own sake. Caye, who herself is vegetarian, has a deep interest in animal welfare and hoped to encourage audiences to stop seeing pigs merely as food. The Pigstrument, she said, was an attempt to discover whether pigs might have some kind of musical culture.
3. The Great Animal Orchestra Symphony by Richard Blackford
When Richard Blackford first heard extracts from Bernie Krause’s book ‘The Great Animal Orchestra’, on BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week in April 2012, his imagination started running wild. The result was this contemporary work, which incorporates actual recordings of gibbons, tree frogs, beavers, and gorillas into the orchestral composition, creating a unique blend of natural and composed sounds.
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4. From Here to Ear by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot
The French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot originally trained as a composer, drawing inspiration from experimental art and music of the 1960s, particularly John Cage’s work with everyday sounds. This 1999 work makes that Cageian connection obvious. In it, Boursier-Mougenot used live zebra finches in an aviary with amplified steel piano wires, cymbals and electric guitars. As the birds moved and perched on the wires, they created spontaneous musical compositions, the aim being to produce unpredictable ‘living’ music.
5. The Cunning Little Vixen by Leoš Janáček
Concluding our list of classical music inspired by animals is this 1924 opera by the Czech century composer Leoš Janáček. It tells the story of a young fox cub, Vixen Sharp-Ears, who is captured by a forester as a pet. The opera follows her journey to adulthood, escape from captivity, and life in the forest. In essence it is a philosophical reflection on the cycle of nature, life and death. But if that makes it sound rather dry and heavy, it isn’t: Janáček’s score, heavily influenced by Moravian folk music and rhythms, is playful and colourful, ranking amongst the composer’s most popular works. In fact, the composer himself loved it so much that he requested music from its final scene be played at his funeral.