Piano music inspired by insects & assorted wee beasties

[fhimpsl]

A very good point...and for that matter the other insect inspired Scriabin work might be the Etude Op. 42/6, which sounds very much like mosquitos humming around one's ears!

Frank

[zampano]

Unless I skimmed over it by accident, I don't think anybody mentioned the most obvious one: Robert Schumann's Papillons.

Also, there's Prokofiev's Grasshoppers and Dragonflies No 5 from Ten Pieces for piano from Cinderella, Op 97, and Amy Beach's Fireflies (Sketch for Piano Op 15 No 4).

And I don't think Thalbergmad got a big enuff laff for A Lice in Wonderland, so

[WCosand]

I think that Scriabin's 8th sonata sounds a lot like "Hey Jude" so it is definitely inspired by Beatles.

[Timtin]

May I suggest anything by Hummel (die Hummel = bee in German), or perhaps Roussel's ballet The Spider's Feast. He used both dancers and mimes in his production, with the main role of the spider taken by one of each. Other characters are the mayfly, butterfly, praying mantises and some maggots - the last played by a group of clowns. Each type of insect has a theme using the special timbres of a particular instrument. Actually, anything with 'Ariadne' in the title (e.g. works by Haydn, StraussR and Roussel himself), can be associated with spiders' webs, if you know your Greek mythology (which I don't!).

Having said all that, spiders aren't even insects!

[HTIEKFR]

Well when I opened the post I thought about Schumann "papillons" but is the piece really "inqpired" by insects ...... I don't think so. So the title is related to the thread but not really the music I believe ??

Here's a waltz by ALBERT NORMAND " la coccinelle" ladybug or ladybird

ALBERT NORMAND - LA COCCINELLE.pdf

[neiltassoni]

Bill Bolcom's __Dead Moth Tango__ is wonderfully harsh and excellent. Would it count? [Mod edit: there's nothing in this thread which indicates that the insects have to be alive at the time of inspiration. FB]

To whomever it was who mentioned Skrjabin's 10th Sonata--brava!

It is my favorite of his larger works.

[HTIEKFR]

Here's a more consequent work by a great pianist.
RAOUL PUGNO - Ballet les papillons reduced for piano.
For information there's a wikipedia page with some informations on Raoul Pugno.
Checking some links found that Mel Bonis dedicated a work to Pugno : carillon mystique op 31 and wrote a piece called papillons (the 5th piece of 5 pieces pour piano).
Both are available on IMSLP.

PUGNO LES PAPILLONS SUITE N°3.pdf

PUGNO LES PAPILLONS SUITE N°2.pdf

PUGNO LES PAPILLONS SUITE N°1.pdf

[HTIEKFR]

Here a small study by Camille Stamaty opus 37 n°19 : la sauterelle / the grasshopper

STAMATY - LA SAUTERELLE .pdf

[Dannen]

Anything by Ant-heil or Bee-thoven. Not to mention Bug-müller.

[liveforpiano]

If they were not so readily available, The Carnaval of the animals by Saint-Saens and Le Festin d'Esope of Alkan would fit in here.
Or anything by Baa-ber.

Peter (livefor piano)