Furry Friends

About

This set of songs continues my series of 'themed' sets of songs suitable for younger singer (or those who may be in their first few years of lessons). The vocal ranges are not extreme, and the melodic lines relatively simple. The accompaniments do not require virtuoso pianists, and the pieces are intended to be immediately appealing to an audience. As the title suggests the pieces here are all about animals - furry friends! The first piece, to a text by John Ciardi, is about one of the most popular of domestic animals - the dog. Here the song tells of a dog bought for a dollar - not a pedigree dog but a bargain buy - lots of dogs all rolled up into one. The second song takes the idea of 'furry friends' a little further afield to the Australian kangaroo. The poem by Elizabeth Coatsworth describes the movement of the kangaroo across the Australian plains, with a suitably 'bounding' accompaniment from the piano. The same poet provides the text of the third song: The Mouse. The mouse laments that it is no longer easy to find a few crumbs on the floor of the kitchen - everything is now in jars, or in tins, or up high on the pantry shelf. The floor is bare, suitable only for dancing in the moonlight. The fourth song brings us to that other popular domestic pet - the cat. Here, Eve Merriam's stray cat is described as being 'just an old alley cat' but still beautiful in the eyes of those who find it. The final song is 'The Monkey' and sets a tongue-twister of a poem by Robert S. Oliver. The poet plays with rhymes of '-erous' while describing a mischievous monkey where mutual dislike seems to reign. The texts are all drawn from the Collins Treasury of Animal Poems edited by well-known American poet Jack Prelutsky (whose own poetry I have set on many occasions).