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All Creatures Great and Small: Music of the Animals Classical composers clearly loved their animals: here is a programme presenting a variety of creatures great and small from the elephant and kangaroo to the cat, mouse and frog! The musical styles range from frivolous to funny, and the booklet notes explain the music and how to listen out for the details of tunes and rhythms. 1. CUCKOO: This lovely piece for piano by an eighteenth-century French composer uses the song of the cuckoo - cuckoo! cuckoo! - over and over again as the main tune. And around this song you can hear the breeze murmuring in the trees. 2. KANGAROO: Hop hop hop - and rest! Hop hop hop - and rest! Saint-Säens expresses the jumpy walk of the kangaroo in musical leaps and bounds. 3. CAT AND MOUSE At first the cat waits - and then it jumps! The mouse scurries away hides in a corner while the patient cat purrs - and then pounces! The chase continues at a breathless pace. In the middle of the piece there is a slinky cat dance, and then it's back to chase and wait, chase and wait! And the end of the story? You decide! 4. HORSE: A colourful procession through the streets of a medieval town: you can hear the hooves of the beautiful animals, their riders (knights, kings, princes and princesses?) all dressed in their finest and richest clothes of the finest silks. 5. CAT: The cat dances with the piano in most elegant style. Is it Puss in Boots? Or just a plain cat having fun? 6. SWAN: The beautiful white swan glides over the smooth surface of the water, its tune played by the cello, accompanied by the watery sounds of the piano. 7. DOG: A sad dog sings a secret song, growls a little, sings some more, growls, lies down and sings and growls quietly. 8. CYGNETS: The baby swans (cygnets) bounce along in the water, their feet paddling madly under the surface. 9. BUTTERFLIES: Beautiful colours blowing in the breeze as the butterflies flit from flower to flower, fast and flashing, their wings in patterns of reds and blues, yellows, greens and whites. 10. PELICAN: This serious pelican struts along the cliff top and dives in a most elegant way, showing off his big beak and how he can catch more fish than any other bird. 11. FROGS/CROWS: Croak, croak, caw, caw, flap flap. The frogs and crows are clearly to be heard in this fantasy piece from the Baroque period. The French horns croak, the violins caw. 12. CAT: The playful cat has a ball of wool. There it goes, jumping on the piano, back to the floor, hardly resting; just waiting for the next game to play! 13. TORTOISE: A slow creature, this, with all the time in the world to lumber around the rocks, carrying its heavy shell on its back. 14. BIRD: The dawn chorus in springtime! Lots of trills and spiky tunes from the piano express the singing of hundreds of birds. 15. CHICKS: The golden chicks are about to be hatched from their eggs, and they dream of playing in the sun, rushing around and tumbling over their friends. 16. GOLDFISH: The silent goldfish swish around their bowl, flicking their tails in and out of the plants and weeds, looking for food. What are they thinking? 17. DONKEY: The donkey brays - and even starts to sing a special donkey song - before he's saddled up and ridden off through the hills and valleys of the wide open spaces. 18. ELEPHANT: This elephant is a fluffy toy, and very sleepy one at that! He grumbles away quietly to himself for a while, yawns, looks around him and then settles down to sleep in the middle of the pillows. 19. WOLF, FOX, DOGS: A hunting scene from olden times. Dogs bark, horses trot - and the wolf and fox escape, of course!