‘Sweet bird’ – avian portraits in music

April and May are when the dawn chorus of birdsong gets into full voice. Even if you live in the city centre, listen carefully and you’ll hear at least some species welcoming the morning. Spend time near a green space and you should hear more.

If you’re not sure which birds are singing, there are plenty of videos (and apps) to help. Here’s one for a starter:

Birdsong is part of our daily soundtrack, connecting us to nature, whether it’s the chatter of house sparrows, whistling clicks from starlings or the vocal extravaganzas from blackbirds. It’s hardly surprising then that composers have felt moved to include bird sounds or their general presence into music. There are various Top Tens and other lists out there, plus this Wikipedia article which might be a good place to start.

Of course, there are the ever-present Lark ascending (Vaughan Williams) and On hearing the first cuckoo of spring (Delius). Other pieces celebrate birds as a whole, or as an ideal, or as in the previous examples, mimic their calls. Let’s see what else is out there.

Musical explorations

In learning to be a musician or singer, it can be easy to focus only on school or college requirements. Studying for exams, building up repertoire, or an apparent lack of time can lead to a narrowing of musical horizons.

Let the Library of Birmingham’s Music Library help you explore. With many thousands of scores, books on music, and sets of parts for small ensembles, the Music Library is one of the largest local authority music libraries in the UK. We are always pleased to welcome new and existing customers. Although our services are aimed at everyone in the city, there’s plenty to interest music students. Joining Birmingham Libraries is free and easy to do, and many services are free of charge. Students who are not yet 16 will need the signature of a parent or guardian.

Come with us on a short tour of the Music Library and discover what we have to offer.

Singing isn’t just for Christmas

The time around Christmas is often an excuse for dusting the cobwebs off your singing voice – carols, party songs, family favourites, or singing along with the TV. Whichever it is, the act of singing can let loose a whole gamut of emotions. And if you’re raising your voice with others, those emotions, the feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment can be just as strong.

Sometimes, where the singing takes place adds another layer of intensity to the experience.  And it doesn’t have to be somewhere big, or well-known, or impressive.

All this was in my mind when I was thinking about writing a Christmas post. One of my favourite Christmas albums ever exemplifies all these thoughts about singing and I was going to share it with you. Then my own thoughts took a sharp side turn. Yes, that kind of singing  can be fantastic but it’s also an experience that too few younger people get offered.

A musical celebration

This year’s theme for Black History Month is ‘Celebrating our sisters’. This feeds in very well to our efforts to widen and deepen our coverage of Western classical music.

For this post, let’s look at five contemporary, British – Caribbean composers who also all happen to be female.

One-handed recorders and other adaptive instruments

Buying a musical instrument can be expensive. Actually being able to try the instrument out before you buy it can be tricky – musical instrument shops aren’t that thick on the ground. But still, the instruments are obtainable and out there.

How about if you’re a musician who needs adaptations to make music in comfort and with dignity?

The idea for this post came from reading a Tweet from professional recorder player, Sarah Jeffery, who made an appearance promoting a one-handed recorder designed by Peter Worrell. Made of 3-D printed plastic, it’s a great example of how modern techniques can be used to produce an adaptive instrument.

Pomp and circumstance

Coronations are occasions full of pomp, circumstance, and tradition.  And also music. Music has always played a key part in coronation ceremonies. Awe, wonderment, jubilation, thanksgiving, ceremonial swagger – what better way to encapsulate these moods than by employing music old and new. Some pieces have been used in multiple royal coronations. Think Handel’s Zadok the priest, or Parry I was glad. They are also times when favoured composers can be asked to write music especially. Twentieth-century composers include Elgar (Coronation ode), Vaughan Williams (settings of All people who on Earth do dwell and O taste and see) and Walton (Crown imperial march and Coronation Te Deum).

For his coronation, King Charles has commissioned 12 new pieces of music from British composers for use throughout the ceremony.

Wendy Carlos and her Moog music

February has come round again and with it comes LGBTQ History Month. This a time to reflect on and to highlight the contributions queer individuals have made to our combined historical narrative. We’re looking at Wendy Carlos for this post. Previous posts include Musically Wilde and Derek Jarman: his films and their music . Join us to discover more about Carlos and her fascination with Moog synthesizers.

Wendy Carlos

When Kim Petras won a Grammy this year for her duet with Sam Smith, you might be forgiven for thinking she is the first trans woman to do so. She isn’t. Not at all. Wendy Carlos, as this Classic FM article points out, won three Grammys in 1970 for her most famous album, Switched-on Bach. By 1974, the album sold 1 million copies and in 1986, it was certified platinum, the second classical album to be so.

The fisherman’s song – more Chinese musical explorations

Three years ago, we posted about our first attempts to focus on Chinese / Chinese heritage composers writing in the Western classical tradition. A Chinese puzzle introduced a few of the main players. Now seems a good time to see how we’ve progressed. The collection is still in its infancy, but it represents a much broader range of styles and composers. It’s been fascinating exploring new music and new names. (Please note that Chinese name characters used in headings are taken from external sources.)

Come with us to see (and hear) what we’ve found.

Made in Birmingham 5 – CBSO’s ‘New sounds’

To celebrate their centenary, Birmingham’s own CBSO has commissioned a wide range of composers to write for them. A number of these works have been performed over the past couple of years, with interruptions from Covid-19 restrictions. These centenary celebrations continue into the present season and beyond.

Here’s one concert to look forward to: an entire programme in January 2023, comprising 20 brand new, four-minute pieces for orchestra from a selection of young composers, several with Birmingham connections. It’ll be fascinating to see and hear what they’ll produce with a whole orchestra at their disposal. It’s not an ‘instrument’ many young composers get the opportunity to work with. Doubtless, they’ll all bring their unique style and musical talent to bear. 

Let’s take a closer look at a few of these fortunate individuals. More information about everyone involved in CBSO’s New Sounds project can be found here .

Filling more gaps

As it’s Black History Month, it is appropriate to revisit a post we wrote a couple of years ago. Filling gaps – diversifying our collections listed our aims to make our sheet music collections more representative of the city around us. That was at the start. Now is a good time to see what progress we’ve made in representing music by Black composers.