"A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think.
Music is immediate, it goes on to become."
AUTHOR: W.H. Auden
"You do not need to think all the time to enjoy music;
you can just enjoy the feelings."
DUETTO BUFFO
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
COMPOSER
ROSSINI
 |
| http://blossomboots.blogspot.com/2012/07/singing-cats.html#.UX4Tt6IskTM |
DUETTO BUFFO
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
For 2 Voices and Piano
Les Petits Chanteurs a la Croix de Bois
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFLF57vDYcQ
%2BEdita%2BGruberova%2C%2Bsop%2BVesselina%2BKasarova%2C%2B....jpg)
%2BEdita%2BGruberova%2C%2Bsop%2BVesselina%2BKasarova%2C%2B....jpg)
 |
| http://imslp.org/wiki/Duetto_buffo_di_due_gatti_(Rossini,_Gioacchino) |
DUETTO BUFFO
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
Lele Luzzati, Animator
THIS ARTICLE IS FROM:
by James Manheim
Many are the vocal recitals and opera
galas that have ended with the Cat
Duet as an encore. Though scored for
two sopranos and piano, the work
exists in orchestral versions and has
been sung by male-female pairs and
even as a tomcat duet.
The text consists in its entirety of the
single word "meow," and singers
treat the melodies basically
however they want to.
The origins of this work are cloudy,
but historians agree that it is not an
authentic work by Rossini. It does,
however, contain a good deal of
Rossini's music, so the attribution
is not completely off the mark.
The Cat Duet contains elements of
1) the aria "Ah, come mai non senti,"
from the second act of Rossini's opera
Otello (1816), 2) a nearby duet between
the characters Otello and Iago, and 3)
an earlier work in the same vein, the
"Cat Cavatina" of Danish opera and
song composer C.E.F. Weyse.
 |
| C.E.F. Weyse |
The compiler was probably
a British composer better known for
his output of hymns. In 1973, the
Schott publishing house issued a
facsimile of an 1825 edition of the
Cat Duet, published by Ewer &
Johanning and credited to Pearsall,
 |
| Pearsall |
but bearing the
pseudonym G. Berthold.
From Rossini's day down to ours,
the piece has never lost its appeal
for singers, concertgoers, and cat
lovers; it often appears, of course,
on compilations of classical music
pertaining to felines.
DUETTO BUFFO
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
Animated Version
Lele Luzzati, Animator
DUETTO BUFFO
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Martí
Montserrat Martí
DUETTO BUFFO
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
Modern Version
DUETTO BUFFO
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
Acapella Version
DUETTO BUFFO
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
DI DUE GATTI
(CAT DUET)
"Meow"
WARHOLS' CATS
THE AD-DRESSING OF CATS
From 'The Ad-Dressing of Cats'
used Eliot’s poems as lyrics and set them
to music to create the musical CATS.
You’ve read of several kinds of Cat,
And my opinion now is that
You should need no interpreter
To understand their character.
You now have learned enough to see
That Cats are much like you and me
And other people whom we find
Possessed of various types of mind.
For some are sane and some are mad
And some are good and some are bad
And some are better, some are worse –
But all may be described in verse.
You’ve seen them both at work and games,
And learnt about their proper names,
Their habits and their habitat:
But...How would you ad-dress a Cat?
So first, your memory I’ll jog,
And say: A CAT IS NOT A DOG.
Now Dogs pretend they like to fight;
They often bark, more seldom bite;
But yet a Dog is, on the whole,
What you would call a simple soul.
Of course I’m not including Pekes,
And such fantastic canine freaks.
The usual Dog about the Town
Is much inclined to play the clown,
And far from showing too much pride
Is frequently undignified.
He’s very easily taken in –
Just chuck him underneath the chin
Or slap his back or shake his paw,
And he will gambol and guffaw.
He’s such an easy-going lout,
He’ll answer any hail or shout.
Again I must remind you that
A Dog’s a Dog — A CAT’S A CAT.
With Cats, some say, one rule is true:
Don’t speak till you are spoken to.
Myself, I do not hold with that -
I say, you should ad-dress a Cat.
But always keep in mind that he
Resents familiarity.
I bow, and taking off my hat,
Ad-dress him in this form: O CAT!
But if he is the Cat next door,
Whom I have often met before
(He comes to see me in my flat)
I greet him with an OOPSA CAT!
I’ve heard them call him James Buz-James –
But we’ve not got so far as names.
Before a Cat will condescend
To treat you as a trusted friend,
Some little token of esteem
Is needed, like a dish of cream;
And you might now and then supply
Some caviare, or Strassburg Pie,
Some potted grouse, or salmon paste –
He’s sure to have his personal taste.
(I know a Cat, who makes a habit
Of eating nothing else but rabbit,
And when he’s finished, licks his paws
So’s not to waste the onion sauce.)
A Cat’s entitled to expect
These evidences of respect.
And so in time you reach your aim,
And finally call him by his NAME.
So this is this, and that is that:
And there’s how you AD-DRESS A CAT.
![Andy Warhol, 25 Cats Name[d] Sam and One Blue Pussy , New York, The Artist, circa 1954, (Feldman & Schellmann IV.52A-68A)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tQ03_NTl5YJdIiIarH3Whw41SqAcFPhtwwUrzv9ycOgTyqSHgI0nIuAS4fP6CnsyfPFEXImBONdRxLC4NpDj4MNZvlY0mcD6TwwwZpqCdlC1X2brJO7K4P0qBhKMdE-vEKLtTzB0sb39Gz4bTEA3zhIUQpOIZGyE316UltvsPDcFWTodZ1XWn8S2QY=s0-d) |
| Andy Warhol: 25 Cats Named Sam and One Blue Pussy, 1954 |
THE AD-DRESSING OF CATS
From 'The Ad-Dressing of Cats'
by T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot: The Naming of Cats
T.S. Eliot, Narrator
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,
on which the musical CATS is based,
was written by T S Eliot
during the 1930's and first published
in 1939 by Faber and Faber. Although
Eliot generally intended his cat poems to
be for children, they were also appealing
and amusing to adults. With a little
adaptation Andrew Lloyd Webber
used Eliot’s poems as lyrics and set them
to music to create the musical CATS.
 |
| http://www.broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/cats.htm |
You’ve read of several kinds of Cat,
And my opinion now is that
You should need no interpreter
To understand their character.
You now have learned enough to see
That Cats are much like you and me
And other people whom we find
Possessed of various types of mind.
For some are sane and some are mad
And some are good and some are bad
And some are better, some are worse –
But all may be described in verse.
You’ve seen them both at work and games,
And learnt about their proper names,
Their habits and their habitat:
But...How would you ad-dress a Cat?
So first, your memory I’ll jog,
And say: A CAT IS NOT A DOG.
Now Dogs pretend they like to fight;
They often bark, more seldom bite;
But yet a Dog is, on the whole,
What you would call a simple soul.
Of course I’m not including Pekes,
And such fantastic canine freaks.
The usual Dog about the Town
Is much inclined to play the clown,
And far from showing too much pride
Is frequently undignified.
He’s very easily taken in –
Just chuck him underneath the chin
Or slap his back or shake his paw,
And he will gambol and guffaw.
He’s such an easy-going lout,
He’ll answer any hail or shout.
Again I must remind you that
A Dog’s a Dog — A CAT’S A CAT.
With Cats, some say, one rule is true:
Don’t speak till you are spoken to.
Myself, I do not hold with that -
I say, you should ad-dress a Cat.
But always keep in mind that he
Resents familiarity.
I bow, and taking off my hat,
Ad-dress him in this form: O CAT!
But if he is the Cat next door,
Whom I have often met before
(He comes to see me in my flat)
I greet him with an OOPSA CAT!
I’ve heard them call him James Buz-James –
But we’ve not got so far as names.
Before a Cat will condescend
To treat you as a trusted friend,
Some little token of esteem
Is needed, like a dish of cream;
And you might now and then supply
Some caviare, or Strassburg Pie,
Some potted grouse, or salmon paste –
He’s sure to have his personal taste.
(I know a Cat, who makes a habit
Of eating nothing else but rabbit,
And when he’s finished, licks his paws
So’s not to waste the onion sauce.)
A Cat’s entitled to expect
These evidences of respect.
And so in time you reach your aim,
And finally call him by his NAME.
So this is this, and that is that:
And there’s how you AD-DRESS A CAT.
