Latest news with #PastoralSymphony
NZ Herald
11-08-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
UK dairy farmers play jazz to cows, boosting milk production
In 2021, Hollis Meade, a Devon organic dairy farm, organised a concert for its cows at which the jazz pianist Ben Waters played. Owner Oliver Hemsley said his cows had loved the music, adding: 'It provided some sort of distraction. They looked very happy. When the music started, they looked a little bemused, then moved quietly and quickly to their food.' While jazz is now in vogue, for several years it has been popular for dairy farmers to play classical music while milking their cows, Hemsley said. 'We've been doing it for a long time. It does relax the cows,' he added. On a recent edition of BBC's Farmwatch, the saxophonist Julian Smith performed with a guitarist for an audience of cattle at Chesterton Fields Farm in Warwickshire. Charles Goadby, a dairy farmer based in Nuneaton, told the broadcaster he had been playing music to his cows for nearly a decade. He said: 'We installed a robotic milking system and there were a lot of new harsh sounds and noises, so we wanted to drown that out and give them a constant sound. 'This was about 10 years ago, and somebody suggested the cows like classical music – that was the trend back then – so I put a classical radio station on for the cows to listen to, and it just helps them relax a little bit. 'We always have music on in the milking parlour... not just for the staff to listen to. 'It's a little bit like the Pavlov dog theory, where it's waking up the senses, it starts their hormone production off, and actually, the cows will release a little bit sooner and that milk flow will be a little bit quicker. 'It helps relax the cows and the workers – so that's a win-win all round.' For a study published in 2001 by academics from the University of Leicester, 1000 Holstein Friesians were played music for 12 hours a day for several weeks. When the cattle listened to slow and relaxed songs, their milk yield rose by 0.73 litres per cow per day, a 3% increase. The songs selected included Aretha Franklin's What a Difference a Day Makes and Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. However, the researchers discovered that listening to lively music with more than 120 beats per minute reduced the rate of milk production. According to a 2019 study, Holstein Friesian cows that listened to The Classical Chillout Gold Collection, a compilation album, were calmer and took more time to rest than peers who were listening to country music or no music at all. Meanwhile, a 2021 paper examining the impact of playing music to livestock concluded: 'It would seem that music genres with a subdued, natural sound (such as classical or relaxing music) are the best and safest choice for both cattle and humans.' Juan Velez, the executive vice-president of US-based Aurora Organic Farms, told Modern Farmer: 'In terms of music, in my 30 years working with dairy cows, I have found that music can be beneficial to the wellbeing of the cows, but it must be consistent and calming.' Rob Hadley, who also farms in Warwickshire, told the BBC his cows were 'very relaxed about the jazz' and would probably like any music other than Birmingham heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath. He said: 'Truthfully, a bit of Ozzy Osbourne would scare the socks off them.'
The Guardian
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Levit/Budapest Festival Orchestra/Fischer review – edgy Prokofiev baffles and compels
Concerts by Iván Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra are always a little idiosyncratic – remember when playing Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony meant them sharing the RFH stage with a tree? – and this all-Prokofiev programme had its own subtle yet distinctive stamp. It started with the Overture on Hebrew Themes. Fischer had Ákos Ács, the BFO's principal clarinettist, standing out front as if it were a concerto – which it isn't, but the clarinet is the guiding spirit of the piece, leading the klezmer melodies on which it's based. Ács was a mercurial presence – almost dancing with Fischer in the centre, then shuffling over among the strings as if to hide when he wasn't in the musical spotlight, but as engaging and virtuosic as a soloist in the whirling fast music. With Ács back in his seat, Fischer and the pianist Igor Levit took Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No 2 and made this strange, colossal work sound more baffling and compelling than ever. The orchestra oozed in underneath Levit's first melody and from then on the first movement's music slipped artfully in and out of focus, the orchestra not so much beautiful as eerily glutinous. Levit built his big solo passage to a peak of forceful intensity; then, in the tiny second movement, he kept the piano motoring deftly on, as if impervious to the orchestra hurtling beside it. The mechanical feeling spread to the third movement, which began with almost inhuman stomping but cradled a little swaying dance at its centre. The last movement brought grand romantic sweep – finally, the stuff big piano concertos are made of, hard won. Levit's encore, Schumann's Der Dichter Spricht, was an introspective and deeply felt contrast, its spell unbroken despite throbs of static from a malfunctioning speaker high above. After the interval, it was all about storytelling. A selection from the ballet Cinderella – Fischer our grandfatherly narrator – found the orchestra on more relaxed form, catching the music's colourful, occasionally edgy charm. This continued into their encore, the Gavotte from the Classical Symphony: a dance that 'starts young and ends old', as Fischer put it. If it ended steadier than it began, it lost none of its spark.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Join leading composer on a glorious journey through the Dales
SOUTH-Craven based composer, Ben Crick will take audiences on a glorious journey through the Yorkshire Dales at a concert at Ilkley's King's Hall on Sunday, March 30. Conducting his own work, the award winning Soundscapes, which featured at the exhibition space at Skipton Town Hall a year ago, combined with original films of the Dales, edited live with music, it promises to be a concert hall sized immersive experience. It will be performed by the Airedale Symphony Orchestra, fresh from recent success performing another fabulous composition by Ben Crick at 'RISE' - the opening of the City of Culture Bradford 2025, A spokesperson said: "Come and hear this beautiful new work conducted by the composer, and be transported to experience all the glories of the local landscape, from deepest caves to soaring dales and moors. "We will also perform Beethoven's famous Pastoral Symphony. Beethoven loved nature, and his pastoral symphony takes us on a perfect tour of a rural idyll complete with birds singing, streams flowing, and even a picnic disturbed by a thunderstorm." A collection will be taken for Menston Area Nature Trust, a local charity supported by orchestra members that has recently purchased nearby Weston Woods as a new nature resource for our community." The concert at Ilkley King's Hall takes place at 7.30pm on March 30. Tickets £10 to £17; under 11s go free. Available online at: by phone: 0333 666 3366, and on the door until sold out.
