In a whimsically purrful mode, here are five cat-friendly songs from that cattiest of music genre… Classical Music!
1. Maurice Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilège: The Cat
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2BCyDlUKMk (starting from 6:00 minute on)
This coolly psychedelic opera about a spoiled boy whose abuse of the furniture ignites some delicious reproaches from the no-longer-long-suffering inanimate things (along with a few animate ones) is something every lover of classical music from the late Romantic Period ought to hear at least once in their life. At any rate, this scene in the show belongs to the black cat and his lady friend, who rail at the boy as they act out their passion in the yard. If you’ve never thought about how sonically fascinating two cats in heat can sound… Well… Lucky you!
2. Aaron Copland’s The Cat and The Mouse Piano Scherzo
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GFLJi1bizE
Composed by the young American composer while studying in Paris, this charming piano piece should probably not be played in the presence of your pet hamster… To do so would be… Oh..so inhumane!
3. Gabriel Fauré‘s Miaou from Dolly Suite
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1RwwQXBj98
From a set of piano duet dedicated to Hélène Bardac (Dolly), this playful piece was inspired by Dolly’s apparently failed attempt to correctly pronounce the name of her brother, Raoul… I don’t know what medication is to blame for her having missed it by that much, but the sound of her attempt must have been something amusing to hear!
4. Benjamin Britten’s ‘For I Will Consider My Cat, Geoffrey’ from ‘Rejoice in the Lamb’ Cantata
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7vaGsriUuk
This soprano solo is the 2nd part of Britten’s Festival Cantata set to the fascinating poem by Christopher Smart, who, while sequested in an insane asylum, penned a long verse where various creatures praise god in their own ways. Listen to the accompanying organ… in contrast to the rather innocent sounding soprano. Doesn’t this sort of remind you of how your cat would try to convince you of his innocence just as his tail twitches and swirls in every mischievous ways possible?
5. Gioacchino Rossini’s Duetto buffo di due gatti (Comic Duet for Two Cats)
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEud_O2cSfo
Probably the most famous of the catty classical numbers, it is actually disputable who the composer of this delicious soprano/contralto meowing contest really is. The English will tell you that their own Robert Pearsall was the one who came up with it, though most others would attribute it to the great bel canto composer, Gioacchino Rossini, who retired early from operatic works to reap the interest of his good investment while writing up tons of amusing (and virtuosic) piano accompanied songs for all the catty parties he gave. There are many ways to skin this silly song, but the version I love best is by two of the greatest coloratura soprani and mezzo-soprani of our time, Edita Gruberova and Vesselina Kasarova… (and a studio recorded version of it is available on their only joint CD, Lied-Duett on Nightingale Label!).
Meow on, my friends, and the next time you go to a music store…. Don’t forget to check the Classical Music section and see if you can’t find more whimsical things to sing to your favorite pets when the moon is full and the dogs are howling. Dogs… yeah, they do deserve a tuneful essay of their own, too, don’t they?
