A Musical Menagerie: Animal Antics from Dowland to Cole Porter

The Oxford University Press Choir, formed in 1985, gives two public performances each year, in May and November. Malcolm Pearce has been the Choir's Musical Director since 2010.

Creatures of all sorts have been a popular subject of choral and instrumental music across the centuries. Their lives and antics serve as a metaphor for many of life's situations, exemplified most famously in Aesop's Fables, settings of which feature in our 'Musical Menagerie'. In music ranging from John Dowland to Cole Porter come and encounter a sheep (or two), a self-centred bee, a randy sparrow, a patriotic peacock, a tangoing tiger, a trout that likes to play 'name that tune', and the obligatory dying swan, to mention a few. And don't forget to bring your teddy bear!