From Vivaldi’s The 4 Seasons to Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, composers have been drawn to the idyllic sounds of chicken calls echoing within the forest.
These sounds are celebrated in shimmering sonic technicolor in Ottorino Respighi’s 1928 suite for small orchestra, The Birds (Gli uccelli). Within the five-movement suite, Respighi transcribed 4 distinct chicken songs into musical notation, and concurrently paid homage to present music from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The intimate classical orchestra is augmented by shiny, colourful tonal splashes from the harp and celesta.
Often, Respighi drew inspiration from the music of Baroque composers. In so doing, he embraced his native Italian musical tradition and revealed some long-neglected musical treasures. His transcription of Monteverdi’s misplaced opera, Lamento d’Arianna, was premiered by the conductor, Artur Nikisch, in Berlin in 1908. Within the subsequent years, the three suites of Respighi’s Historic Airs and Dances, composed between 1917 and 1932, recast a set of Baroque lute items.
The Birds opens with a Prelude, based mostly on a harpsichord piece by the Italian opera composer and virtuoso keyboardist, Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710). After an preliminary assertion of the stately theme, we’re launched to the suite’s musical “characters” with a sudden, sunny refrain of chicken calls. Pay attention fastidiously, and you might also hear the fluttering of wings, pecking beaks, and scratching toes.
The second motion, La colomba, depicts the dove. A serene melody within the oboe evokes the clear, white chicken which has lengthy been a logo of peace. It’s a lush adaptation of music by the French lutenist and composer, Jacques Gallot (c. 1625–c. 1695).
Quickly, the tranquility is shattered rudely by the exuberant clucking of the hen (La gallina). The hen’s incessant and comedian commentary is joined by clownish interjections by the clarinet, oboe, and bassoon and a closing blast from the trumpet. This music was tailored from a bit by the nice French composer, Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764).
Subsequent comes the nightingale (L’usignuolo), a mystical chicken with wealthy poetic associations which date again so far as Homer’s Odyssey. Hazy, veiled low strings open the door to a magical, nocturnal soundscape. The solo flute initiates a dreamy woodwind dialog, interspersed with plaintive horn calls. The harp and celeste evoke twinkling starlight. The supply for this music is the nameless folksong, Engels Nachtegaeltje, which was transcribed by the Dutch recorder virtuoso, Jacob van Eyck (c. 1590-1657).
The ultimate motion returns to the music of Pasquini with the decision of the cuckoo (Il cucù). The cuckoo’s rhythmic, persistently repeated falling main third echoes cheerfully all through the orchestra. The suite’s avian adventures come to an in depth with a return of the stately theme of the Prelude.
Colourful, atmospheric, and cinematic, The Birds appears to have anticipated lushly stunning Hollywood movie scores to return.
Right here is Eugene Ormandy’s landmark 1966 recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra:
Recordings
- Respighi: The Birds, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra Amazon
Featured Picture: the cuckoo, an engraving by John Gerrard Keulemans (1873)
