For centuries, composers have drawn inspiration from the oldest melody-makers in the world: birds.
Take, for instance, the piece “Summer Has Arrived” from the mid-1200s. The song features musical references to the cuckoo bird, a species that would continue to inspire Handel, Beethoven and Mahler hundreds of years later.
Nashville Public Radio’s Kara McLelandhas more on the history.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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