The great light music composer Leroy Anderson wrote many orchestral
miniatures which incorporate extra-musical sounds, most notably *The
Typewriter*, *The Syncopated Clock* and *Sleigh Ride* (which imitates the
clip-clop of the horses hooves, sleigh bells, and the neighing of the horse
in the final measures). Others include *The Waltzing Cat*, *The Sandpaper
Ballet* (using three different grades of sandpaper, coarse, medium and
fine, to imitate the soft shoe dance), and *Horse and Buggy*.



A more obscure team of light music composers, the brothers Kermit and
Walter Leslie, (born Kermit and Walter Levinsky) wrote pieces in a similar
vein, including* Jalopy* (in which the sound of an antique car is heard)
and *Gilbert the Goose* (which showcases the subject's honking). These
were issued on a collection titled *"Middlebrow" Music for the Hi-fi Fan*
(10" Epic LG 1019, 1956), re-issued in expanded form as *A Holiday in
Hi-fi* (LN
3452, 1958).



The sound of cascading water is heard in Melachrino's *Waltz in
Water-colours* (on *Music to Work or Study By*: RCA LPM 1029, 1954)



If I remember correctly, the sound of a whip is heard in Ernst Toch's *Circus
Overture*.



Aside from musical works, the sound of birds can be heard for a few
seconds, before the opening line of dialogue on Decca's recording of
Christopher Fry's play *The Lady's Not for Burning* (DX 110, 1951.) This
moment always caught the attention of my feline Siamese companion, many
years ago. It was one of her favorite recordings.



Richard Markowitz