It all started with a guitar piece, Astro Cats, in 1992. Composed for Jim Holtz, the Astro Cat miniatures, depicting 12 cats in 12 minutes, only had the zodiac animal names. He left it to the listener to decide on the cats based on their moods: ‘The Libra cat is elegant and whimsical, Cancer cat is moody, Aries cat is tempestuous, Pisces cat is sensual, Gemini cat is nervous, Capricorn cat is sleepy, Taurus cat is mock heroic, Scorpio cat is macabre, Sagittarius cat is dreaming of distant lands, Leo cat is in love, Virgo cat is a meticulous workaholic, and finally, Aquarius cat waxes from coldly cerebral to eccentric’. (composer’s notes)
This led to a request for Astro Dogs, which Carbon composed in 2019. This time, he not only specified the Zodiac sign but also the specific dog:
- Beagle (Aquarius)
- Basset Hound (Taurus)
- Bichon Frise (Gemini)
- Saint Bernard (Leo)
- Standard Poodle (Libra)
- Presa Canario (Scorpio)
- Labrador Retriever (Sagittarius)
- Chihuahua (Pisces)
- Toy Boston Bull Terrier (Virgo)
- Pekingese (Cancer)
- Werewolf (Capricorn)
- Irish Wolfhound (Aries).
The characters of the dogs come through clearly. The solemn Saint Bernard (tasked with rescue duties) versus the tiny prancing Pekingese.
Saint Bernard
John Carbon: Astro Dogs – No. 4. Saint Bernard (Leo) (Steven Graff, piano)
Pekingese
John Carbon: Astro Dogs – No. 10. Pekingese (Cancer) (Steven Graff, piano)
Or the meaty solidity of the Presa Canario versus the hornpipe of the giant Irish Wolfhound.
Presa Canario
John Carbon: Astro Dogs – No. 6. Presa Canario (Scorpio) (Steven Graff, piano)
Irish Wolfhound
John Carbon: Astro Dogs – No. 12. Irish Wolfhound (Aries) (Steven Graff, piano)
All kinds of dogs are in Carbon’s zodiac list: toy dogs, fluffy dogs (the Bichon Frisé), tiny dogs (chihuahua), and even dogs of our nightmares (the werewolf).
Feeling that in his first cat collection for guitar, he hadn’t paid them the same attention that he’d given to the dogs, Carbon wrote a new set of Zodiac Cats in 2023, which later took the title of Astro Cats to match the Astro Dogs.
Now he wandered the world for his cats: all continents have a representative, including the world of literature, for a truly famous cat.
No. 1. Saharan Cheetah: Sagittarius
No. 10. Snow Leopard: Scorpio
No. 11. Spotted Hyena: Gemini
No. 12. American Shorthair: Aquarius
No. 2. South African Lion: Leo
No. 3. Peruvian Pampas Cat: Aries
No. 4. Maine Coon Cat: Taurus
No. 5. Bengal Tiger: Virgo
No. 6. Cheshire Cat: Libra
No. 7. Siberian Lynx: Capricorn
No. 8. North American Panther: Cancer
No. 9. Siamese Cat: Pisces
John Carbon: Astro Cats (version for piano) – No. 6. Cheshire Cat: Libra (Steven Graff, piano)
Both wild cats (cheetahs and leopards) and domestic cats (Maine Coon and Siamese) have a place. That’s not to say that the wild cats are the biggest….
Peruvian Pampas Cat
Maine Coon Cat and owner Yulia Minina
In his cat music, Carbon captures their actions: ‘pouncing, crouching, sprinting, as well as elements of the hunt and their mysterious, crafty nature’, as the composer says. He was also inspired in his music by friends who also had the same sign. The Siamese cat, for example, was a favourite of the composer’s mother, who was also a Pisces.
You might notice No. 11, the Spotted Hyena: Gemini, and wonder if a dog has crept into our cat list. According to the latest research, hyenas are more closely related to cats than to dogs; they look so much like.
If you have both a piano and a cat, you might find something familiar in No. 12, American Shorthair: Aquarius. It takes its ascending theme from Domenico Scarlatti’s Fuga del gatto (Sonata in G minor, K. 30), supposedly inspired by Scarlatti’s cat Pulcinella walking across his keyboard. Scarlatti used the cat’s notes for the fugal exposition theme in his 1739 piece.
The steep terrain where the Snow Leopard: Scorpio lives inspires an agile piece with interesting figuration.
Snow Leopard (photo by Bernard Landgraf)
John Carbon: Astro Cats (version for piano) – No. 10. Snow Leopard: Scorpio (Steven Graff, piano)
With something for both dog-lovers and cat-lovers, John Carbon’s Astro series also gives us room to think about the animals we share our lives with. They bring love and humour into all they do, and everyone benefits.
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