Bird Music

[christopher3393]

 

" Have you ever heard two turtle doves

  Bill and coo, when they love?"

[rando]

Not mocking surnames.  Mockingbird.

 

Dr. Doolittle was such low hanging fruit they have to adopted it as a science stage name.  

 

 

 

[christopher3393]

...low...hanging...fruit:

 

 

[sphinxsix]

On 11/10/2018 at 5:15 PM, christopher3393 said:

Bryd one brere ( Bird on a Bryre)· anon. (medieval English)

 

 

  

 

A beautiful performance!

The song (a bit more contemporary than this one ) that immediately came to mind was :

 

 

 

 

21 hours ago, Hugo9000 said:

So, I was checking out a recording of Verdi's string quartet on Spotify, and what do I hear in the quiet passages?  Gorgeous birdsong!  Apparently, it was a live recording in some hydroelectric plant in Germany.  Sadly, I can't find it on youtube to share here.  The violinist on the Verdi quartet is the acclaimed Christian Tetzlaff.  I don't know what kind of bird is singing--a lark?  It's very beautiful, actually!  The human audience is amazingly quiet haha!

 

This is the CD:

 

 

 

 

P.S.  In the Graffman/Bernstein/NY Phil recording of the Rachmaninov 2nd piano concerto, there is a bird.  I don't recall which movement it appears in, but it's a welcome distraction from the noisy musicians shuffling their sheet music and scraping their chairs and whatever other odd things they were doing.  That recording is the reason I hate that orchestra haha!  The only orchestra I know of where a live audience isn't needed to provide coughing--the musicians provide it themselves in the studio.  No discipline whatsoever!

 

The album 'Junun' was recorded in Mehrangarh Fort in Rajasthan, India. All reverb on the album is natural and a large space beneath the fort was used as an echo chamber. But birds couldn't be kept from visiting this space so you can clearly hear them on some of the songs eg (I think they even turned the volume of birdsong up every now and then):

 

 

There is also a short track entitled 'There Are Birds in the Echo Chamber' on the album!

 

 

[sphinxsix]

Obviously :

(Jaco even sings here like a bird )

 

 

BTW would claiming that all post be bop jazz has been in a way a Bird influenced music be too risky statement.?

[Ralf11]

58 minutes ago, sphinxsix said:

 

BTW would claiming that all post be bop jazz has been in a way a Bird influenced music be too risky statement.?

 

 

 

Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker.  G. Giddins. 1987.

[christopher3393]

Cuckoo time:

 

"Sumer Is Icumen In" (also called the Summer Canon and the Cuckoo Song) is a medieval English round or rota of the mid-13th century.

 

Svmer is icumen in
Lhude sing cuccu
Groweþ sed
and bloweþ med
and springþ þe wde nu
Sing cuccu

Awe bleteþ after lomb
lhouþ after calue cu
Bulluc sterteþ
bucke uerteþ
murie sing cuccu

Cuccu cuccu
Wel singes þu cuccu
ne swik þu nauer nu

Sing cuccu nu • Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu • Sing cuccu nu

 

 

 

Cucú, cucú, cucúcu, cancionero (from Cancionero de Palacio)

Juan del Encina (1468 - 1529):

 

 

Pretty song? Here are the lyrics in English:

 

Coo-coo, coo-coo!
Make sure it's not you.

Mate you must know,
that the best of women,
is always crazy to screw,
tire out yours well.

Mate you must take care,
to never be cuckolded,
if your wife goes out to pee,
go out with her.

 

Here's a different rendition from Jordi Savall et al:

 

 

A little Shakespeare?

 

The Song

VER, THE SPRING

When daisies pied, and violets blue,

And lady-smocks all silver-white,

And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue

Do paint the meadows with delight,

The cuckoo then on every tree

Mocks married men; for thus sings he, “Cuckoo;

Cuckoo, cuckoo”—O word of fear,

Unpleasing to a married ear!

When shepherds pipe on oaten straws,

And merry larks are ploughmen’s clocks;

When turtles tread, and rooks and daws,

And maidens bleach their summer smocks,

The cuckoo then on every tree

Mocks married men; for thus sings he, “Cuckoo;

Cuckoo, cuckoo”—O word of fear,

Unpleasing to a married ear!

 

from Love's Labour Lost, Act5, Scene 2. Often sung in performance to a variety of melodies. Stravinsky made a song of it. It's awful.

 

So instead here is a modern piece you may recognize:

 

The Cuckoo Song - Dance of the Cuckoos - Al Bowlly and the Arthur Lally Orchestra

 

 

 

 

 

[rando]

Oh Christopher, I didn't honestly expect you to drudge up a medieval song about being cuckolded.  ?‍♀️

[sphinxsix]

5 hours ago, christopher3393 said:

Pretty song?

Pretty indeed. I like it even more than Jordi Savall's version. The very first seconds of the song made me think about Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I think it was due to the fantastic rhythmic abilities of the choir. If someone doesn't know what I'm talking about :

 

 

Two more movie soundtracks. I admit I prefer three first Inarritu's movies (despite the fact that they weren't related to birds in any meaningful way) but 'Birdman' was a good one too.

 

 

Peter Gabriel's 'Birdy' OST.

 

 

And speaking of an urge to fly (birds inspired not only soft genres performers..)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sphinxsix]

A rare example of birdboxing (maybe the sound and performance aren't top notch but it's the idea that counts!)

 

 

[christopher3393]

An old song with a colorful history:

 

 

 

 

 

[sphinxsix]

 

 

[sphinxsix]

Quote

One morning while reading a newspaper, Jarbas Agnelli saw a photograph of birds on an electric wire. He cut out the photo and was inspired to make a song using the exact location of the birds as musical notes. He was curious to hear what melody the birds created...

 

 

And sampled birds once again.

 

 

[christopher3393]

 

 

[sphinxsix]

On 11/7/2018 at 2:20 PM, christopher3393 said:

Just found this playlist on Spotify: "Birdsong in Classical Music". Hope it is of some use:

 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX13IHBurI057

This is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in bird music! Highly recommended!

 

While some composers are inspired by birdsong, there is a bird which is highly inspired by sounds he hears and is an absolute master in mimicking them - from sounds of other birds to camera shutter, car alarm, chainsaw(!) and human speech. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the king of animal plagiarism - Lyre Bird..

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2UcKFtwS5o

 

 

 

[mansr]

2 minutes ago, sphinxsix said:

While some composers are inspired by birdsong, there is a bird which is highly inspired by sounds he hears and is an absolute master in mimicking them - from sounds of other birds to camera shutter, car alarm, chainsaw(!) and human speech. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the king of animal plagiarism - Lyre Bird..

Starlings have been known to sing the classic Nokia ringtone, back when Nokia was synonymous with phone.

[sphinxsix]

15 hours ago, mansr said:

Starlings have been known to sing the classic Nokia ringtone, back when Nokia was synonymous with phone.

I've heard a lyre bird imitating both - the Nokia ringtone and a sterling mimicking it and there was a distinct sound difference between the two. Lyre birds rule! I'm pretty sure they'd be able to clearly demonstrate SQ differences between audio components. Power cords included.

[sphinxsix]

So leaving music aside for a moment: who are better dancers - Homo Sapiens or Aves.?

 

Professionals. Great synchronization, isn't it.

 

 

Also a professional. RIP.

 

 

Birds of paradise. Are they pro or amateur.? Definitely they don't get paid but sometimes their dance pays off..

 

 

 

And from the above mentioned Spotify playlist:

 

 

[Ralf11]

you want to compare a single species vs. an entire Class?

 

I think we will have to pick birds tho - just on the aerial dances alone

[sphinxsix]

3 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

you want to compare a single species vs. an entire Class?

 

IMO they deserve a handicap, they're a little less sapiens than us (at least some of us..)

[sphinxsix]

After some lyre bird music it's time for harp bird music.

 

 

[sphinxsix]

Have a good Sunday, everybody!

 

 

For the hard core fans of bird animation.

 

 

[christopher3393]

Takemitsu: A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden

 

 

"This beautifully titled composition for orchestra was inspired by a dream in which the composer saw a flock of white birds, led by a single blackbird swirling around and then descending into a pentagonal or star-shaped garden. The garden, however, turned out to be the star on the back of artist Marcel Duchamp's head in the famous photograph by Man Ray."

 

https://www.allmusic.com/composition/a-flock-descends-into-the-pentagonal-garden-for-orchestra-mc0002372010

 

https://rhagye.com/2013/11/03/analysis-of-takemitsus-a-flock-descends-into-the-pentagonal-garden/

[sphinxsix]

@christopher3393 Listening to "A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden' has been a refreshing experience. It almost felt like having my inner music hard drive defragmented! Got to check out this guy's music! Thx!

 

Birdism - the new religion. Its guru is Wayne Donowho.

 

 

Anti-birdism - 5G (but this might be real fake news)

 

 

[christopher3393]

36 minutes ago, sphinxsix said:

but this might be real fake news

 

Yes. I think you can count on it having more imagination than authenticity. Birdism is another matter  ?

 

accwai introduced me to Takemitsu, but it was the bird theme that sparked the interest.

 

Another bird piece by Takemitsu:

 

A Bird Came Down the Walk - Viola on Stage

Nobuko Imai (viola), Roland Pöntinen (piano)

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7922376--a-bird-came-down-the-walk-viola-on-stage

 

no youtube video of this particular performance, but available on Spotify

 

It is inspired by an Emily Dickinson poem of the same name:

 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56593/a-bird-came-down-the-walk-359

 

Nice article on this piece: https://juliemichael.weebly.com/uploads/9/0/1/4/90148655/zen_in_the_art_of_viola_playing_published_pdf.pdf