We humans have been charmed and fascinated by the sight and sound of birds for so long that it’s not surprising that composers have tried to capture those qualities in music. What is surprising, perhaps, is the great variety of approaches they have taken—almost as much variety as we find in birds themselves.

In this hour, avian-inspired music, from medieval and renaissance songs to works by Dvorak, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Vaughan Williams, Mozart and more.

 

FEATURED RECORDINGS

Title	Group/Artist	Catalog #	UPC
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6	Orchestre Revolutionaire et Romantique;Gardiner	DGG Archiv 4399002	028943990028
Respighi: Pines of Rome, etc	London Symphony Orchestra, Gardelli	EMI 7243 58654929	724358654929
Sumer is Icumen In	Hilliard Ensemble	Harmonia Mundi 901154	093046115425
French Chansons [for “Le chant des Oiseaux”]	Scholars of London	Naxos 8.550880	730099588027
La Sophie [for “Le Coucou”]	Sophie Yates	Chandos CHAN 0598	095115059821
Vaughan Williams Symphonies [for The Lark Ascending]	London Philharmonic, Haitink	EMI  724358603026	724358602623
From Australia [for “Penguin Balle”]	London Symphony, Daniel;  Williams, guitar	Sony 5K53361
Peter and the Wolf/Carnival of the Animals	Czechoslovak Radio Symphony, Lenard	Naxos 8.550335	730099533522
Common Birds and Their Songs [for Scarlet Tanager]		Lang Elliott, 1998: Houghton Mifflin Company
Dvorak Chamber Music	Kohon Quartet	Vox CDX 5166	047163516622
Saint-Saens: Works for Cello & Piano	Poltera & Stott	Chandos CHAN10552	095115155226
Angel of Light  (Rautavaara: for Cantus Arcticus]	Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä	BIS CD-1038	675754058722
Die Zauberflote	Walter Berry; Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Sawallisch	EMI 586072B	0094635860726
Forest of the Amazon (Villa-Lobos)	Renee Fleming; Moscow Radio Symphony,  Heller	Delos DE1037	013491103723
Delius: On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring	London Symphony Orchestra, Wordsworth	Collins Classics 13362	5055283402909