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Zoomusicology and Ethnomusicology: A Marriage to Celebrate in Heaven

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2018

Marcello Sorce Keller
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Extract

What Cartesian nonsense to think of birdsong as pre-programmed cries uttered by birds to advertise their presence to the opposite sex, and so forth! Each bird-cry is a full-hearted release of the self into the air, accompanied by such joy, as we can barely comprehend.

(J. M. Coetzee, Diary of a Bad Year, 2008:132)

S'il s'avère que la musique est un phénomène répandu chez plusieurs espèces vivantes en-dehors de l'homme, cela remettra forcément en cause la définition de la musique, et plus largement de l'homme et de sa culture, ainsi que l'idée que l'on se fait de l'animal lui-měme.

(François-Bernard Mâche, Musique, mythe, nature, 1983:61)

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Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 44 , 2012 , pp. 166 - 183
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Copyright © 2012 by the International Council for Traditional Music

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References

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Discography

Due to the relatively little interest by the general public in animal sounds, few recordings are commercially available. Among them I find the following especially intriguing:Google Scholar
Ambiences et curiosités de la nature. Vol. 2. Compact disc. Le Studio du Pékinois SDP 009. 1994.Google Scholar
Les plus beaux chants d'oiseaux. Jean C. Roche. Compact disc. Tempo A 6117. 1987.Google Scholar
Songs of the Humpback Whale: The Original Album of Whale Recordings, Produced by Dr. Roger Payne. Compact disc. Earth Music Productions LD0021. CD. 1991.Google Scholar
Thai Elephant Orchestra. Dave Soldier and Richard Lair. Compact disc. Mulatta Records 004. 2000.Google Scholar
The Secret Sounds of Whale Music. Compact disc. Ellebore 55919-2. Paris, 2006.Google Scholar