Butterflies on the Piano

 It's World Piano Day, so I'll take the opportunity to smuggle in my favourite subject – butterflies...
The development of the piano in the Romantic period hugely extended the expressive and mimetic possibilities of the keyboard, and one of the things the modern instrument lent itself to particularly well was evoking such natural phenomena as the flight of a butterfly.  Grieg's Schmetterling and Moritz Rosenthal's Papillons set out to do this overtly, but perhaps the best evocation of a butterfly flitting busily from flower to flower was apparently written with no thought of Lepidoptera – Chopin's Etude Opus 25, number 9, the 'Butterfly' Etude, which only acquired its name when listeners and players started noting the remarkable resemblance. Not only the music, with its high-speed alternation of staccato and marcato, but also the movements of the pianist's hands across the keys perfectly evoke the restless flight of a butterfly. Here it is played by the Lithuanian pianist Lukas Geniusas – 

Meanwhile, I have still not so much as glimpsed a single butterfly this 'spring', thanks to all this cold and rain and wind – and it's very nearly April. I am feeling the lack.