This is the period known in many parts of the world as the silly season, the time when news agencies struggle to post engaging headlines of serious news items during the peak holiday period. So, I thought this blog could follow suit by reminding everyone that 20 August each year marks World Mosquito Day. Actually, that’s not so silly as it might sound, since it observes the discovery in 1897 of the fact that mosquitoes carry the parasite that causes malaria. But composers have often seen the funnier side of the pesky insect, alongside its cousins the gnat, the fly and the bug, in pieces that are suitably diminutive. Let’s sample some of them. Continue reading and listening at blog.naxos.com