David Rothenberg - interspecies communication

David Rothenberg is a composer, but simultaneously an author who has focused on the relationship between human and nature. In this sense, I’d rather call him an experimentalist or philosopher. His book “Why Birds Sing” which has a focus on making music with birds was even adapted into a documentary by BBC. He spent a long period of time observing the sounds of various species and working with them. After listening to “Whale Music,” “Insect Choir,” “Nightingales in Berlin,” I was deeply impressed by his philosophy of integrating natural sounds with music compositions in such an intellectual and inspiring way. 

We all hear the sounds of animals and birds everyday, such as the frequent hum of cicadas; while we rarely realise that they are actually the “origin of music.” The sounds from animals can be incredibly various and magical. Humans are often unable to duplicate them. Rothenberg therefore attempts to take advantage of the sounds from nature, consider them as a wonderful resource or pattern and work on incorporating the sounds into his music. Another aspect Rothenberg brings up is that some animals can learn to make new sounds. That’s most likely to be the reason why he has had concentrated on the sounds of whales and birds. In the video “Nightingales in Berlin,” Tina Roeske mentioned that for her, nightingales’ sounds are music. They don’t talk to each other but perform like musicians. Therefore, During the course of “playing a piece” with the nightingales, the “music” emerging out of the ensemble however sounded melodious and harmonious. There isn’t a rehearsal, isn’t a folder which records the following notes need to be played, and isn’t a requirement for being synchronous; while  the resulting sounds produced by the “coordination” is surprisingly amazing. It seems like they actually learn from each other and offer a new interpretation of improvisation. Probably just like what Rothenberg indicated, that the birds also intend to choose a habitat where they find musically fascinating. Also, Rothenberg really enjoys “playing” with the whales. For him, whales can sing in various voices that we humans call “music.” He further explains, “Whales and humans may share a capacity to express complex emotions” (The New York Times). Obviously, this musical connection occurs within multi-species not only reveals the fact that music exists everywhere, and people can actually communicate with animals through music; more significantly, it reflects a collaborative and harmonies relationship between human beings and nature.