^{FIRST PUBLISHED 16 AUG 2026}

The beloved green parrot that belonged to Margaret of Austria, one of the 16th century’s greatest patrons of the arts, may seem an unlikely muse. Not for Pierre de la Rue, though, whose lament, Epitaph for a Green Lover, gives the title track to the latest album from the Linarol Consort of Viols and soprano Héloïse Bernard, supported by Continuo Foundation.

Taking its cue from that feathered protagonist, our playlist goes looking for birds throughout the Renaissance and Baroque repertoire. Indeed, birds and birdsong have inspired composers for centuries, and few pieces wear it as literally as Biber’s Sonata violino solo representativa – a showpiece that impersonates all sorts of creatures on solo violin, from which we’ve picked movements portraying: nightingale, cuckoo, hen and cock, and quail, performed by Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque.

Telemann takes a stranger tack in his Canary Cantata, mourning a pet canary’s death with all the mock-solemnity of a full-blown opera lament, as hinted in its title: ‘Cantata or Funeral Music for an artistically trained canary-bird whose demise brought the greatest sorrow to his Master’.

Elsewhere, Vivaldi’s goldfinch trills through his Flute Concerto and Rameau summons a whole aviary in Le rappel des oiseaux. We hope you enjoy these and more examples from the pens of Purcell, Handel, Haydn and more, and do watch out for a couple of cats in the midst!

Listen on Spotify.

TRACK LIST

1. Biber Sonata violino solo representativa in A, C146: II. Die Nachtigall (‘The Nightingale’) | Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque
2. F Couperin Le rossignol en amour - Ordre No. 14 | John Kitchen & Lucy Carolan
3. Handel Organ Concerto in F, HWV 295 Cuckoo and the Nightingale: II. Allegro | Simon Preston, The English Concert & Trevor Pinnock
4. Biber Sonata violino solo representativa in A, C146: III. Der Cu Cu (‘The Cuckoo’) | Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque
5. Daquin Premier livre de pièces de clavecin, Suite No. 3: Le Coucou (‘The Cuckoo’) | Luc Beauséjour
6. Haydn Symphony No. 83 in G minor La poule (‘The Hen’): I. Allegro spiritoso | Handel & Haydn Society, Harry Christophers
7. Biber Sonata violino solo representativa in A , C146: V. Die Henne und der Hann (‘The Hen and the Cock’) | Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque
8. Rameau La poule | Robert Aldwinckle
9. D Scarlatti Keyboard Sonata in G minor, K30 Cat’s Fugue | Scott Ross
10. Vivaldi Flute Concerto in D, Op. 10 No. 3 (RV 428) Il gardellino (‘The Goldfinch’): I. Allegro | Lisa Beznosiuk, Trevor Pinnock & The English Concert
11. Biber Sonata violino solo representativa in A, C146: VI. Die Vachtel (‘The Quail’) | Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque
12. Haydn String Quartet in D, Op. 64 No. 5 The Lark: I. Allegro moderato | London Haydn Quartet
13. Walsh The Bird Fancier’s Delight: No. 25 Starling | Ensemble Sonorita & Hojin Kwon
14-16. Telemann Canary Cantata, TWV 20:37 I. Aria; V. Aria; VII. Aria | Sara Couden, Aaron Boyd, Alexi Kenney, Gilbert Kalish, Keith Robinson, Matthew Lipman, Scott Pingel
17. Purcell The Fairy Queen, Z629: A Bird’s Prelude | Ensemble Sonorita
18. Rameau Le rappel des oiseaux | Luc Beauséjour
19-20. Williams 6 Sonatas in three parts, Sonata sesta In Imitation of Birds: I. Adagio; II. Allegro | Ensemble Sonorita
21. Haydn String Quartet in C, Op. 33 No. 3 The Bird: I. Allegro moderato | London Haydn Quartet
22. Biber Sonata violino solo representativa in A, C146: VII. Die Katz (‘The Cat’) | Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque
23. Handel L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, HWV 55: ‘Sweet bird, that shun’st the noise of folly’ | Dame Emma Kirkby, Academy of Ancient Music & Christopher Hogwood
24. Handel Rinaldo, HWV 7a, Act I, Scene 6: Aria ‘Augelletti, che cantate’ | Vivica Genaux, Freiburger Barockorchester & René Jacobs
25. Pierre de la Rue Soubz ce tumbel (Epitaphe de l’amant vert) | Linarol Consort of Viols & Héloïse Bernard