Tomoko
appreciates the sound of animals: birds chirping at dawn in her garden and even
donkeys braying in a Rumanian field. “He had a special way of braying,” Tomoko
remembers. “I felt sorry for the little fellow because he was separated from
his mother.”
Piano
composers have also been inspired by animals as evidenced in the pieces they
have written. Such allusions date back to the 18th century with
Luis-Claude Daquin’s 1735 harpsichord suite, which includes “The Cuckoo.”
Several
of Tomoko’s favorite composers captured the essence of animals in their compositions.
For instance, Chopin’s famous “Minute Waltz” was originally titled “Waltz of
the Little Dog,” a piece that aimed to musically describe George Sand’s dog.
Another
Tomoko favorite, Edvard Grieg, musically painted an assortment of animals. Lyric Pieces, Book 3, Op. 43, No. 4 is “Little
Bird.” In his collection 25 Norwegian
Folksongs and Dances, Op. 17, Grieg features a cow, a pig, a snake, a fly,
and a horsefly.
Continuing
in the 20th century, Tomoko favorite Oliver Messiaen was not only a
composer but also an ornithologist. Messiaen transformed 13 bird songs into his
piano collection Catalog of the Birds,
each piece reflecting each unique bird and the French region in which it
lived.
Francis
Poulenc, another 20th century composer favorite of Tomoko, wrote The History of Babar, the Little Elephant for
piano and narrator.
At
the other end of the animal spectrum, at least in size, is Aaron Copland’s piano
composition The Cat and the Mouse.
Even though the piece is atonal, the overall sound reminds the listener of
animated cartoons. Another 20th century composer who featured cats
in his piano works is Bohuslay Martinu’s composition “Procession of the Cats on
Solstice Night.”
All
of these animal piano works enables the pianist to perform more eloquently than
kittens on the keyboard.
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