Composed by John Bartlet, “Of all the birds that I do know”, from “The King’s Singers, Madrigal History Tour, The England”

Lyrics:
Of all the birds that I do know,
Philip my sparrow hath no peer;
For sit she high, or sit she low,
Be she far off or be she near,
There is no bird so fair, so fine,
Nor yet so fresh as this of mine;

For when she once has hath felt a fit,
Philip will cry still: yet yet yet yet.

Come in a morning merrily
When Philip hath been lately fed;
Or in an evening soberly
When Philip list to go to bed;
It is a heaven to hear my Phipp,
How she can chirp with merry lip;

For when she once has hath felt a fit,
Philip will cry still: yet yet yet yet.

She never wanders far abroad,
But is at home when I do call.
If I command she lays on load
With lips with teeth, with tongue and all.
She chants, she chirps, she makes such cheer,
that I believe she hath no peer.

For when she once has hath felt a fit,
Philip will cry still: yet yet yet yet.

A large group of us from Cirque Du Soleil’s ZAIA show went to see the Chime Long International Circus in Guangzhou, China. It was a fantastic show. The Chime Long circus is more of a traditional circus that includes animal acts. Music for the show is pre-recorded – no live band.

There were so many elements in this show that makes Circus so mesmerizing. There were truly death defying acts including long and high jumps without nets and the Wheel of Death – a Circus favorite. I thought the animal acts were great, although it was a little disturbing to some. There were also great moments of beauty with lush slow aerial acts.

My absolute favorite part was the end of the show when four rows of birds fly from stage left and right across the front of the stage and over the audiences heads. First I think it was pelicans followed by doves. So beautiful. If I hadn’t seen it myself I would have thought it was a projected special effect. Bravo to Chime Long International Circus!