Cuckoo and Other Bird Sounds Used in Classical Instrumental Music
collected by Jeffrey Sward
 
 
Beethoven Symphony 6 Pastoral, Second Movement (cuckoo, nightingale, quail)
Delius On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
Handel Concerto for Organ in F Major MWV295 The Cuckoo and the Nightingale
Haydn Quartet for Strings Op. 64 No 5 The Lark
Haydn Symphony 83 in G Minor Poule (Hen)
Malipiero Impressioni dal vero (black cap, woodpecker, owl)
Mozart, Leopold Toy Symphony (cuckoo)
Respighi Gli uccelli (The Birds) (dove, hen, nightingale, cuckoo)
Respighi The Pines of Rome (tape)
Rimsky-Korsakov Invisible City of Kitezh (cuckoo)
Rimsky-Korsakov Snow Maidens (cuckoo)
Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals (cuckoo, hens, roosters)
Strauss, Johann Jr Nightingale Polka Op. 222
Strauss, Johann Jr. Im Krapfenwald'l Polka (In the Little Jelly Doughnut Woods Polka) (In Krapfen's Woods Polka), Op. 336 (cuckoo and other bird sounds)
Strauss, Josef Village Swallow Waltz Op. 164
Vaughan-Williams The Lark Ascending
Vivaldi Violin Concerto in A RV335 The Cuckoo
 
The following compositions reference birds programmatically without a literal sound imitation
 
Dvorak Wood Dove
Griffes White Peacock
Kodaly Variations on a Hungarian Folksong (Peacock Variations)
Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf (duck)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Le Coq d'or (Golden Cockerel)
Rossini La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie)
Sibelius Swan of Tueonela
Stravinsky Le Chant du Rossignol (The Song of the Nightingale)
 
A more complete list can be found in: Goodenberger, Jennifer. Subject Guide to Classical Instrumental Music. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1989.
 

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