The Singing Cat (Three Songs, 2000)

Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Three Songs were written for Gerald Finley, who first performed them with Julius Drake in the Wigmore Hall just over two years ago. They are all about animals, two of them cats - a dead cat mourned by Thomas Hardy and a singing cat celebrated by Stevie Smith. For those of us who have never had the good fortune to travel with a singing cat, Turnage’s finely textured and delightfully witty setting gives a good idea of how enchanting it was for passengers on the train on this particular occasion.