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| Kirk leads participants singing to Zebras at The Bronx Zoo, 1982 |
Hidden Orchestras
Proud music of the storm! Blast that careers so free…you hidden orchestras! - Walt Whitman
The Aristotelian concept that "art imitates nature" has long been embraced by western culture. During the many periods of realism, painters sought to capture nature's exact light and hues. And from Impressionism to today, there continues a sense of wonder at the abstraction found in leaf or waterfall.
Double Standard
But oddly, in music we have assumed the exact opposite: that the sounds of nature are merely noises - annoying ones at that. Roaring thunder, barking dogs, incessant crickets. In order to make music more pleasing, we developed instruments and tonal relationships ostensibly superior to those of nature.
Of course, most instruments resonate with nature's overtone series, and in Africa for example, flutes and drums are made from tree bark and animal hides. There are classic birdsong evocations by Messaien, and composers George Crumb and Paul Winter have famously integrated whale sounds in their works.
Nonetheless, there remains an overall feeling that music is music and nature is not.
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