Ever since 2021, we have celebrated “National Be Nice to Bugs Day” on July 14. This might sound like an unusual celebration, but it was set up to raise awareness about the importance of bugs in our ecosystem.
A white tailed bumblebee
So, let’s look at the beneficial side of bugs, as they help to break down and dispose of waste, dead animals, and plants. They are the only food source for many amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, and they help to maintain healthy soil, recycle nutrients, pollinate flowers and crops and control pests.
Many bug populations, like bees, grasshoppers, beetles, and ants, are seeing a decrease in numbers because of habitat loss. “National Be Nice to Bugs Day” is a time to celebrate the benefits that bugs provide to us and our environments, so let’s dust off our magnifying glasses and celebrate those tiny, multi-legged marvels crawling, buzzing, and scooting around us.
Rimsky-Korsakov: “Flight of the Bumble-Bee”
Flutter Frenzy
A ladybug
Get ready to flutter into the whimsical world of Frédéric Chopin’s Etude Op. 25, No. 9, better known as the “Butterfly Etude.” This zippy little piano piece is like a musical love letter to those delicate, winged wonders flitting through a garden.
With its quick, twinkling notes dancing up and down the keys, it’s as if Chopin caught a butterfly mid-flight and turned its fluttery chaos into pure magic. It’s all bounce and sparkle, with notes that skitter like a bug on a sugar rush.
It’s short, sweet, and just tricky enough to make every pianist sweat, so crank up the volume and let’s raise a glass or leaf to Chopin’s ode to our winged pals on National Be Nice to Bugs Day.
Frédéric Chopin: Etude in G-flat Major, Op. 25, No. 9 (Butterfly)
Buzz-Tastic Diary
A Grasshopper
Buckle up for a wild ride with Béla Bartók’s “From the Diary of a Fly.” It’s a quirky piano piece that is ready to buzz, as it captures the erratic and zippy life of a fly with all its darting, dodging, and downright goofy antics.
Bartók’s staccato notes and wonky rhythms are like an insect’s diary entry after a day of dive-bombing picnic sandwiches and outsmarting swatters. So, tickle those keys or just vibe along, and let’s salute our fly friends with a smile.
It’s a pint-sized masterpiece, zipping from one musical misadventure to the next. It’s short and snappy, and just buzzy enough for National Be Nice to Bugs Day shenanigans.
Béla Bartók: Mikrokosmos, “From the Diary of a Fly”
Spindly Spin-Fest
Hold onto your hats, because Franz Liszt’s Tarantella from Venezia e Napoli is spinning into National Be Nice to Bugs Day with all the wild energy of a spider doing a frenzied dance-off!
This fiery piano piece is actually inspired by the myth that you have to dance like a maniac if bitten by a spider. It’s not true, of course, but it’s still a whirlwind of scampering notes and dizzying rhythms.
The Tarantella is a high-octane romp, with notes that skitter and leap like a spider on a caffeine bender. It’s bold and it’s brash, and the perfect classical music selection for
National Be Nice to Bugs Day festivities.
Franz Liszt: Years of Pilgrimage, “Tarantella”
Wing-Waltzing Whirl
Different kinds of butterflies
Are you ready for more fluttering Butterflies? Then, buzz no further than Robert Schumann’s Papillons, Op. 2. This sparkling piano suite is the perfect selection for our National Be Nice to Bugs Day.
Named after the French word for butterflies, Papillons is a dazzling parade of short, lively pieces that dance and twirl like a kaleidoscope of butterflies at a masquerade ball. Each note flits and flutters, capturing the giddy chaos of wings catching sunlight.
Picture a butterfly squad pirouetting through a flower garden, dodging sprinklers with a wink. The music is like a musical butterfly net, catching every skip and hop of these winded wonders in a whirlwind of melody.
So, as the sun sets on National Be Nice to Bugs Day, let’s give a final high-five to our tiny, crawly, and fluttery friends who keep the world buzzing with life! Keep the buggy love going by sparing that spider in the corner or cheering on a beetle’s epic leaf trek.
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