As bird counting campaigns resume with thousands of volunteers all over France, let’s explore the presence of tits or nightingales in our popular memory.
The singer Philippe Forcioli, who passed away this week, liked to sing this inventory of the symbolic birds of each of the landscapes of France. And one wonders if this will still be possible in the future – and even if it is possible in the present.
A few weeks ago, everywhere in the country, the ornithological census campaigns began. Tens of thousands of volunteers, in all our regions, count the birds – the birds that are part of our identity.
In the first episode of These songs that make the news this weekend, you hear excerpts from:
Philippe Forcioli, Aviary1992
Juliette Greco, The cherry season1867 (1983 recording)
Drone Set, Wild Nightingale18th century (1995 recording)
Tino Rossi, pretty titmouse1954
Francoise Hardy, The Chickadee1968
Jean-Louis Murat, The Blue Tit2009
Odette Moulin, The Death of the Nightingale1939
Philippe Forcioli, Aviary1992
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And you can also find on this link the podcast Behind our voices, with the writing and composition secrets of eight major artists of the French scene, Laurent Voulzy, Julien Clerc, Bénabar, Dominique A, Carla Bruni, Emily Loizeau, Juliette and Gaëtan Roussel.