Le Bestiaire

Available for over a year

This short song cycle was born from Guillaume Apollinaire’s poems representing medieval bestiaries - books about beasts. Originally intended to contain 12 animals, Poulenc published only 6 after hearing his friend Louis Durey had completed his own complete version of Apollinaire’s poems. The animals which made the cut are the camel, the Tibetan goat, the grasshopper, the dolphin, the crayfish and the carp. Composer: Francis Poulenc Performer: Ben Johnson (Tenor) Performer: James Baillieu (Piano) Date of broadcast: 19 July 2012