top of page

ANIMAL-THEMED VOCAL MUSIC

animal-themed vocal music | ensemble pieces about animals | animal-inspired vocal | voice and ensemble music animals | animal-themed chamber music | vocal ensemble wildlife songs | animal-themed vocal compositions | voice ensemble animal melodies | wildlife-inspired vocal ensemble | animal-themed vocal scores | ensemble music animals theme | voice and ensemble wildlife compositions | animal-inspired vocal harmonies | vocal ensemble animal repertoire | voice and ensemble music with animal motifs

BESTIARIUS
(The Book of Monsters and Creatures)

for alto / mezzo-soprano and ensemble

Duration:
11 minutes
 
Instrumentation:   
alto / mezzo-soprano, flute/piccolo, clarinet,
bassoon, violin, percussion (2), harpsichord


Year Composed:  
1995
 
Poems By:
Dan Pagis

Poems Included:
1. The Elephant
2. Armchairs
3. The Mosquito


Language:
Hebrew

Written For:
Ayelet Carmon
 
Premiere Performance:
7 July, 1996
Jerusalem, Israel
Ayelet Carmon, mezzo-soprano
Roni Shifrin, flute/piccolo
Roni Barak, clarinet
Eyal Street, bassoon
Michael Zuckerman, violin
Dafna Gan, harpsichord
Pamela Jones and Alex Nemirovsky, percussion
Lior Navok, conductor

ANIMAL-THEMED CHAMBER MUSIC
ensemble music animals theme

THEMES:

Satire

Program Notes:

The Bestiarius (Bestiary) was a common book during the Middle Ages. It contained illustrations of animals, some real and some imaginary. For example, the phoenix was introduced through the Bestiaries. In his Bestiarius, Israeli poet Dan Pagis introduces six "animal" poems, from which I chose three. The text, filled with humor, gave me the opportunity to compose music that often creates a bold contrast to the written word.

Listen
VIEW SCORE

Score of Bestiarious for alto and ensemble

bottom of page