The Animal Symphony

The nightingales at Woods Mill star in Sky TV's 'The Animal Symphony'. Mike Russell joined presenter Chris Packham and composer Nitin Sawhney when they filmed in May.

'The Animal Symphony' is an exciting and entertaining documentary which explores the growing scientific interest in animal responses to music. It's a collaboration between naturalist Chris Packham and world-renowned composer, Nitin Sawhney. Chris uses his phenomenal knowledge of the natural world to find out more about the possible connections between animal song and human music, including why his own dogs howl along to certain musical tracks! It also charts Nitin's creation of a new symphony, which was inspired by new understanding of these connections, but which also seeks to speak directly with some of the animal characters within the film. The symphony is performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and achieves some surprising results.

One of the movements of the symphony was inspired by a visit to Sussex Wildlife Trust's Woods Mill Reserve, in May this year, when Nitin and Chris were privileged to hear the show-stopping song of a nightingale.

SkyArts will be broadcasting the programme on December 6th at 9:00pm. SkyArts is no 121 on the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG)

Mike Russell joined presenter Chris Packham and composer Nitin Sawhney