In ancient Egypt, Bastet was the most popular cat-goddess, but there was another deity with the head of a cat at the god of music.
However, this animal only inspired a few compositions throughout history. The most famous are: Fugatta del gatto by Domenico Scarlatti, Duetto buffo du due Gatti by Rossini (melodious exchange of expressive meows), les Berceuses du chat by Maurice Ravel, le Faucon et la Petite Chatte by Stravinski and the meows of the white cat and the puss in boots in Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty.
More recently, we see Cats, the musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber (1981), which drew its inspiration from An Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, a collection of humorist poems such as the Old Gumbie Cat or Rum Tum Tugger, written by poet T.S. Eliot for children. In this story the cat is constantly seen sitting down (doorstep, armchair or in front of the fireplace).
Once night falls, however, the cat prowls around the house and amuses herself by tangling up the curtain cords for example.
It is difficult to convey in French the full humor of the characters and the plays on words with the cat names, but Frenchman Jacques Charpentreau successfully created a modern performance adapted to the French civilization.
This musical comedy, which is brilliantly staged by a troop of singers-dancers-actors, musicians, choreographers and producers, illustrates certain characteristics of cats: extremely sensual and exuberant at the same time, but also cold and mysterious.
Apart from this show, a text that was not published by Eliot because it was deemed too sad, was a smashing success. The show in question is Memory with Elaine Paige. It was Barbara Streisand, however, who made it famous throughout the whole world with the song of the little she-cat, Grizabella, who was banished from society because of her pitiful appearance, and especially because she dared to show her despair.
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