Birds are the original musicians, as human musicians can appreicate. This playlist is a mix of songs and classical instrumentals honoring our fine feathered friends.
- “Be Like the Bluebird” from Anything Goes (Cole Porter) 1968 Broadway revival cast.
This mock folksong pokes fun at the “bluebird of happiness” theme in Tin Pan Alley songwriting. - “Song of the Lark” (Tchaikovsky) Judith Lynn Stillman.
A short little piano piece that is probably in your future if you’re learning to play. - “The Duck/ Dialogue With the Bird” from Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev).
Beloved children’s classic, with a great orchestral imitation of waddling. - Larghetto (movement 3) from “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale” (Organ Concerto No. 13, Handel) Munich Chamber Orchestra.
Handel wasn’t going for imitation here, this concerto’s nickname comes from listener-bred fancy. - “The Gray Goose” folksong, Ledbelly (Huddie Ledbetter).
Here’s the very first recording of this now-famous song, sung by a now-legendary folksinger. - “Bird as Prophet” from Forest Scenes (Robert Schumann) Valery Afanassiev, piano.
A meditative piece gets to the heart of the German Romantic view of nature. - The Lark Ascending (opening) (Ralph Vaughan Williams)
The full piece continues in this vein. If you’re in a meditative mood, there’s nothing better. - “Blackbird” (Paul McCartney) Paul McCartney.
One of the great songs to use bird flight as a metaphor for freedom of the soul. - “Three Little Birds” (Bob Marley) Bob Marley and the Wailers.
And we end where we began, with a song about birds promising happiness.