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#36 Making Music With Birds And Bugs
01/20/2022
#36 Making Music With Birds And Bugs
“Birds sing because they have to – because they must,” says the man who knows more than most about the subject, Professor David Rothenberg, an American musician, philosopher and writer whose books include Why Birds Sing, Nightingales in Berlin and Bug Music. “Birdsong is the real classic music, this is oldest music we know. It’s been around so much longer than the human species – it’s stood the test of time,” he says. “It’s in their very nature to need to sing, just like humans need to make music – we just have to do it. It’s part of the very essence of being a bird, of being a human, a humpbacked whale, a cricket or a cicada.” Professor Rothenberg, distinguished professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, plays music live on location with creatures large and small, from insects in ponds to whales in the middle of the ocean. His latest book is The Possibility of Reddish Green, about the philosopher Wittgenstein. More information:
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