Mendocino Music Festival

Classical composers have always been inspired by animals. Think of orchestral works like Carnival of the Animals by St. Saens or Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev. In the field of vocal music, the great lieder composers found inspiration in bird flight, the galloping of horses, or the tranquility of the gazelle. The Italian madrigal, El grillo, is a popular one about the cricket. British composer John Rutter’s “All Things Bright and Beautiful” is a newer setting of a familiar…