Stepping in for the indisposed Peter Sculthorpe, David Matthews gave a fascinating lecture on the relationship between birdsong and music at Gresham College on 1st July as part of the City of London Festival. His wide-ranging talk, complete with his own birdsong renditions, provided a unique insight into how birdsong has made its way into a extraordinary number of pieces: Beethoven, Mozart and Wagner, and more recently Messiaen, Sculthorpe and Matthews’ own music.
A full-length video of the lecture is available here.