Dogged Music

 Dogs are sometimes called human’s best friend, and they can inspire music composers as well. The following pieces reflect that connection between “man and beast” in several cultures.

Composer Emil Sjögren is known mainly in his home country Sweden. His piano composition “Portrait of Donnie” is a sweet homage to his favorite pet dog.

Vietnamese composer Chiayu Hsu create a musical zodiac cycle 12 Signs. Movement number 11 is “Dog,” which captures the animal’s impulsive nature.

Similarly, Chinee composer Bright Sheng wrote the orchestra concerto Zodiac Tales. His fifth movement echoes the style of a Buddhist chant to tell the story of a dog who sacrificed himself by putting out enemy fire to save Emperor Liu Bang’s army.

George Gershwin’s composition “Promenade” is sometimes called “Walking the Dog.” That’s because the piece was written for his and his brother’s first score for RKO: the 1937 movie “Shall We Dance?” The scene depicts Fred Astaire trying to woo Ginger Rogers by telling hoer how many dogs he walks. Later, Ira Gershwin scored “Promenade” as a piano solo.

Contemporary Austrian composer Bernd Richard Deutsch was commissioned to write a work imagining 24 hours in the life of a dog. That piece became Mad Dog.  The music imagines a dog’s lively activity, its dreams, and its emotions.

And remember Elvis Presley’s rendition of “You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog?” Composer Peter Breinder reconceptualized that song as a Baroque piece in his Concerto Grosso No. 4; V. Hound Dog.

Perhaps your dog will hound you for these pieces: their own pet sounds.