schools.reep.org - Secondary resources: Activity 4





	Secondary Resources: · Origins of Music · The Ecoquiz · Online Crossword · Pilgrimage · Shraddh · World-Wide Webs · Personal Webs The Secondary Syllabus Primary Resources

Modern composers, too, have continued to be fascinated by birdsong.

Olivier Messiaen, the French composer, carefully transcribed the songs of different birds and used them in pieces such as Le Reveil des Oiseaux ('The Awakening of Birds' 1953), Oiseaux exotiques ('Exotic Birds' 1956) and Catalogue d'oiseaux ('Catalogue of Birds' 1959).
Rather than transcribing birdsong Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara has written a Cantus Arcticus ('Arctic Song') which uses pre-recorded tapes of whooper swans and other northern birds.

And it's not just birds, of course, that 'sing'. Tapes of whales 'singing' have been very popular in recent years. In China, instead of birds, some people keep a caged cicada because of the 'music' that it makes!

Next Chapter

Introduction
Music Imitating Nature - Composers & Birdsong - But is it Music?
Music of the Spheres - Science & Music - Does Nature Sing?
To Think About and Do