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.

the Dog Days of Piano Music

 

The phrase “the dog days of summer” has a surprising meaning; it refers to the dog star Sirius that appears at that time of the year just before dawn. Apropos of dogs, though, classical music can have a calming effect on dogs. Here is a sampling.

Starting on a somber note – and one of Tomoko’s favorite composers – Chopin’s Prelude in E minor uses a descending melody line that can act as a way to move a dog to slumberland.

Another one of Tomoko’s favorite composers is Bach. His Air on the G String, with its sustained notes, can soothe a savage beast.

While some movements, such as “Fossils,” of Saint-Saën’s Carnival of the Animals might wake up a sleeping day, to let sleeping dogs lie, “The Swan” movement can work well with its tone of gently rippling water.

Similarly, the “Lullaby” movement from Stravinsky’s 1945 Firebird Suite can put a pooch to sleep – unlike the spritely “Scherzo Dance of the Princesses” movement.

A more recent addition to the composer line-up is Ludovico Einaudi, whose music can remind one of the classics. His piece L’Onde, which was inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel The Wave (hence the musical title) has a softly flowing rhythm that may seem like a lullaby for your wagging pal.

These lovely pieces can also work on humans….

Animal Music

 

               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 18^th 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 20^th 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 20^th 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 20^th 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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