9x animals in classical music

It’s World Animal Day, so today we’re putting animals in the spotlight. Or rather: a selection of classical works in which animals take centre stage! From swans gliding gracefully across the water to a lumbering, stomping elephant or bounding kangaroos, classical music is full of references to animals. Here are 9 highlights for you.

Camille Saint-Saëns – Le Carnaval des Animaux

Ask any classical music enthusiast for a work that fits World Animal Day, and chances are they’ll immediately mention Le Carnaval des Animaux (The Carnival of the Animals). Yet French composer Saint-Saëns never intended the piece to be published. It was originally written as a joke for his friends. In fact, he considered it such nonsense music that he strictly forbade publication during his lifetime, fearing it might damage his reputation. Fortunately, the work was released after his death, and with great success: it has become one of the most delightful and accessible classical pieces ever written. Each animal has its own unique musical character. You can hear the heavy, lumbering dance of the elephant, or the virtuosic tinkling on the keyboard that depicts bouncing kangaroos. The most famous section, however, is undoubtedly The Swan, where the cello portrays the graceful movements of the swan. You can listen to it below!

Franz Schubert – Die Forelle

If there’s one classical piece that’s linked to everyday life for many people, it’s Franz Schubert’s Trout Quintet. After all, it’s the melody played by a Samsung washing machine when the cycle has finished. Beyond that fun connection, it’s also one of Schubert’s most beloved works. Written for a quintet, it famously includes a variation that playfully mimics the lively darting of a fish.

Pjotr Iljitsj Tsjaikovski – Swan Lake

And let’s stay with the swan a little longer. Russian composer Tchaikovsky wrote one of the most famous ballets of all time: Swan Lake. The music tells the enchanting yet tragic tale of Princess Odette, cursed by an evil sorcerer to transform into a swan by day. Only at night, by the lake’s shore, does she regain her human form. When Prince Siegfried encounters her, he pledges his love and it seems the spell might be broken. But the sorcerer tricks him by disguising his own daughter as Odette, and Siegfried is deceived. Fate proves inescapable: the couple’s love ends in tragedy, though their souls are ultimately reunited.

Igor Stravinsky – The Firebird

In 1910, Igor Stravinsky achieved worldwide fame with The Firebird, his first major ballet. The work is based on a Russian fairytale about a magical firebird that can bring both fortune and misfortune. Prince Ivan captures the bird but sets her free, receiving in return an enchanted feather. With this feather, he is ultimately able to defeat the evil sorcerer Kashchei and liberate all of his prisoners. Stravinsky reflects these contrasts vividly in the music. The Firebird’s theme is calm and serene, while Kashchei’s Infernal Dance is energetic and tempestuous, underlining the stark opposition between good and evil.

Benjamin Britten – Noye’s Fludden

The British composer Benjamin Britten drew on one of the Bible’s most famous animal stories for his opera Noye’s Fludde (Noah’s Flood). Britten wrote this work with a very special purpose in mind: to bring together professional musicians, amateurs, and schoolchildren. It is a tribute to the richness of the animal kingdom, as pairs of creatures enter Noah’s Ark to escape the flood. In performances, the roles of the animals are often sung by children, adding to the work’s charm and community spirit.

Olivier Messiaen – Catalogue d’oiseaux

The French composer Olivier Messiaen was a true bird enthusiast. He spent countless hours in nature studying birdsong, carefully noting it down in his notebooks. His passion found its way into his music, and nowhere is this more evident than in his piano suite Catalogue d’oiseaux (Catalogue of Birds). The thirteen movements are musical portraits of specific bird species Messiaen observed in the French countryside, from the owl to the nightingale. Using the piano, he sought to reproduce their song as vividly and faithfully as possible.

Nikolaj Rimski-Korsakov – Flight of the bumblebee

If there’s one piece that perfectly captures the speed and chaos of an insect, it’s Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee. This short yet intense intermezzo comes from his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan. In the story, a prince transforms into a bumblebee in order to visit his father, who is living on an island. The music depicts the insect’s rapid and restless flight: an unbroken flurry of notes played at such dizzying speed that it seems almost impossible to perform.

Domenico Scarlatti – Cat’s Fugue

Scarlatti’s Piano Sonata in G minor, better known as the Cat’s Fugue, owes its nickname to a charming anecdote. According to legend, Scarlatti’s cat, named Pulcinella, once wandered across the keys of his harpsichord. The composer was so intrigued by the sequence of notes that he used it as the basis for a fugue. While the story is probably not entirely true, it adds a playful and lively character to the piece. And let’s be honest: how delightful would it be if it were true?

Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending

Imagine lying in a field on a summer’s morning, hearing the song of a skylark high above. That’s exactly the feeling Ralph Vaughan Williams sought to capture in The Lark Ascending. Inspired by a poem by George Meredith, the piece features a solo violin that imitates the bird’s song. Through quick, floating passages and soaring high notes, the violin paints the image of the skylark’s graceful flight.