Dawn Chorus Day – 1st May 2022

Birds of all shapes and sizes communicate with their musical songs and calls. It
is fascinating that music exists naturally in the world!

Throughout history, many composers have been inspired to write music which
mimics the sound of birdsong. Here are a few examples to listen to:

1. Antonio Vivaldi: ‘Spring’ from The Four Seasons

This piece for solo violin
and orchestra depicts the
sound of a spring morning.
The virtuosic violin opens
the piece with bright trills
and scale patterns played
very high in the
instrument’s range.
 2. Francois Couperin: ‘The Cuckoo’
This piano miniature evokes the distinctive call of the cuckoo – alternating
high-low notes in a recognisable pattern. The composer, Couperin, cleverly uses
a changing progression of chords beneath the repeating ‘cuck-oo’ pattern which
makes the piece exciting.

3. Camille Saint-Saens: ‘Hens and Roosters’ from Carnival of the Animals

The Dawn Chorus wouldn’t be complete without nature’s alarm clock – the
rooster! In this piece for full orchestra, Saint-Saens uses staccato sounds and
grace notes to create pecking sounds, and the piano and plays a very fast,
swooping theme based on the crowing of a rooster's Cock-a-Doodle-Doo.
 4. Ralph Vaughn Williams: ‘The Lark Ascending’
In this virtuosic piece for solo violin and orchestra by Vaughn Williams, the
violin represents the song of the lark which flies high in the sky. Interestingly,
no other bird can make such a loud and complex song while hovering so high
above the ground.

The free time, high register and cascading patterns mimic the tuneful song of
the lark.