The regal, enchanting swan has inspired so much memorable poetry, music and imagery that one might almost forget that this beautiful, long-necked creature also has a private life off stage in Nature.

Marijke van der Meer - The Winged Muse

The web-footed swan, graceful afloat but gangly afoot, is the world's largest family of aquatic birds. The smooth motion of a swan gliding through the air or on water has inspired great choreography and music over the centuries. The legendary 20th-century Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova was, in fact, so closely identified with her famous role as "the Dying Swan" that she was rumoured to have asked for her swan costume on her deathbed.

Just as with Pavlova, swans too have been the subject of much romantic legend, such as the story that they pine away when a mate dies and sing only when they are near death. These days, however, scientists are acquiring more and more accurate information about swans, their movements, and their mating and migrating habits.

Harsh reality

Jan Beekman, chairperson of the Swan Specialists Group of Wetlands International, often travels to arctic Russia to study Bewick swans in their summer breeding grounds. Mr.  Beekman has had plenty of time since his student days to observe swans in this country, for 60 percent of Europe's Bewick swans spend the winter in the Netherlands, fattening up on the moist high-protein grass on the polders. Pollution, habitat destruction and hunting threaten swans in modern times, while in the past they were coveted and even domesticated for their feathers and their meat.

Pure, spiritual and tasty

In the Netherlands, the right to donate a swan to a banquet was a privilege reserved for the highest nobility. One of the oldest societies in the Netherlands, the Illustrious Confraternity of Our Lady, founded in the cathedral town of Den Bosch, became known as the "Brotherhood of the Swan" because of its sumptuous roast swan dinners.

On a higher plane, swans have traditionally been associated in legend and art with purity, spirituality, and transformation. Perhaps the most spectacular expression of the swan's apotheosis in art is Richard Wagner's 1849 opera about the swan knight "Lohengrin". Few beasts have been so honoured in art as the swan is in this impressive opera. Composers like Tchaikovsky and Penderecki even quoted Wagner when they composed music for the swan.

High-flying logo

In the early 1990's KLM Royal Dutch Airlines cashed in on the powerful visual presence of the swan and launched one of the most successful advertising campaigns in history, when it adopted the swan as its logo.

As KLM vice-president for marketing and brands Simone Wickenhagen explains: "It was a breakthrough, because it was the first time we focussed on an emotional, visual. Until then we had focussed on a product, a passenger seat, a timetable." In spite of the risk that a logo tends to wear out after a while, KLM's award-winning swan ads are still going strong.

The Winged Muse was produced by Marijke van der Meer. The program was originally broadcast in June 2004 as part of the series Vox Humana.