Hooray. It's Elephant Appreciation Day!
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Hooray. It's Elephant Appreciation Day!

Hooray. It's Elephant Appreciation Day!
iStock

Hooray. It's Elephant Appreciation Day!

Today is National Elephant Appreciation Day. Yes, it's true. So, no better time than to usher in the first Deceptive Cadence puzzler.

There has been a long and fruitful connection between composers and creatures. For some composers, an animal is a simple inspiration, a jumping off point for the music. Think of Ralph Vaughan Williams' gently soaring The Lark Ascending. Others paint actual musical portraits of critters, which is the case with the pieces below — "The Frog," "The Octopus," "The Elephant" — you get the picture.

For this "critter quiz," your job is to: 1) Listen to each music sample, think about which of the pictured creatures it represents and then drag the audio clip and drop it on the appropriate image. (You'll find out immediately if you are correct.) 2) Send the quiz on to your friends.

Interactive

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Interactive: Match the music with the critter/animal

Extra points if you tell us the actual title of the tune and from which larger piece it comes from.  Leave your answers in the comments section, and have fun!

Purchase the Featured Music: Frog, Elephant, Mosquito, Bulldog, Octopus, Beetle

(With special thanks to our friends at EMI, BIS, Harmonia Mundi and Decca records.)