Sent as a present from Annam - A red cockatoo. Colour'd like the peach-tree blossom, Speaking with the speech of men. And they did to it what is always done To the learned and eloquent. They took a cage with stout bars And shut it up inside.
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Authorship
- by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969), first published 1919 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Bai Juyi (772 - 846), first published 820 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "The red cockatoo", 1938, published 1994 [ high voice, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Kenneth Hesketh (b. 1968), "Three Commentaries: The Red Cockatoo", first performed 2007 [ voice and piano ], from Shimmerwords and Idle Songs, no. 3c, confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: David K. Smythe
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 8
Word count: 47