Birds

 

 

The use of pre-recorded bird song in classical music goes back to Respighi, who used a turntable with recorded nightingale sounds in his symphonic poem Pini di Roma. Contemporary Finnish grandmaster Einojuhani Rautavaara composed his Cantus Arcticus, subtitled Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, in 1972. The three movements feature tape recordings of birdsong collected near the Arctic Circle and on the bogs of Liminka in Finland. It is played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Hannu Lintu on Naxos.