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|---|---|---|
Searching... Silver Falls Library | 595.7159 ROTHENBERG | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | 595.7159 Rothenberg 2013 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In the spring of 2013 the cicadas in the Northeastern United States will yet again emerge from their seventeen-year cycle--the longest gestation period of any animal. Those who experience this great sonic invasion compare their sense of wonder to the arrival of a comet or a solar eclipse. This unending rhythmic cycle is just one unique example of how the pulse and noise of insects has taught humans the meaning of rhythm, from the whirr of a cricket's wings to this unfathomable and exact seventeen-year beat.
In listening to cicadas, as well as other humming, clicking, and thrumming insects, Bug Music is the first book to consider the radical notion that we humans got our idea of rhythm, synchronization, and dance from the world of insect sounds that surrounded our species over the millions of years over which we evolved. Completing the trilogy he began with Why Birds Sing and Thousand Mile Song, David Rothenberg explores a unique part of our relationship with nature and sound--the music of insects that has provided a soundtrack for humanity throughout the history of our species. Bug Music continues Rothenberg's in-depth research and spirited writing on the relationship between human and animal music, and it follows him as he explores insect influences in classical and modern music, plays his saxophone with crickets and other insects, and confers with researchers and scientists nationwide.
This engaging and thought-provoking book challenges our understanding of our place in nature and our relationship to the creatures surrounding us, and makes a passionate case for the interconnectedness of species.
Author Notes
Philosopher and jazz musician David Rothenberg is professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the author of Survival of the Beautiful, Why Birds Sing, and Thousand Mile Song . He lives in the Hudson Valley, New York.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Following books about bird music (Why Birds Sing) and whale music (Thousand Mile Song), Rothenberg, a jazz musician and professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, proposes that the "wild percussion sounds" of insects were humans' original musical inspiration, the source of our interest in "the trill, the thrum, the resonant, the mangled, the mashed." Rothenberg researches and visits with scientists and musicians preoccupied with bug music, and intersperses stories of his musical adventures, philosophical musings, and charts of bug buzz patterns with poetry from the five-volume set of singing-insect literary references gathered by Montreal entomologist Keith Kevan. Most importantly, Rothenberg listens deeply to the insects and muses on what we need to know "to be musically attuned to and influenced by these six-legged singers." The book's climax is a concert where he collaborates with members of Brood XIX, "the largest of the thirteen-year cicada populations," which emerged in 2011. Despite occasional exuberant incoherence, Rothenberg raises thoughtful questions about the nature of music and our ability to communicate with other species. The author's wide-ranging musical interests-from Renaissance madrigals and John Cage to electronica and katydids-together with his playful, almost romantic approach to the subject helps engage general readers, balancing the book's more technical material. 56 b&w photos and illus. Agent: Michelle Rubin, Writer's House. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A free-wheeling discourse on the nature of insect noise and its interaction with human ideas of music. Rothenberg (Music and Philosophy/New Jersey Institute of Technology; Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science and Evolution, 2011, etc.) has written previously about the songs of birds and whales, both of which he admits are more accessible subjects than insects. Nevertheless, he cites hundreds of years of poetry and music to show that he is far from alone in his fascination for bug music. Basho, the great Japanese haiku composer, wrote in the late-17th century: "Cicadas sing-- / know not how soon / They all will die." Rothenberg writes that the germ of this book, which will be released in time for the re-emergence of one brood of 17-year cicadas in the mid-Atlantic states this summer, first stirred in 1996 when a friend invited him to witness their last appearance above the Hudson Valley in New York. Rothenberg ruminates on this odd prime-numbered rhythm, beating steadily for millennia apparently, which keeps the cicada larvae underground only to enjoy one brief season of maturity in the air every 17 (or, in some lucky species, 13) years, a season they celebrate with loud song and desperate sex. He suggests it is the longest beat in music of any kind. But cicadas aren't the only creatures that capture Rothenberg's playful ear and imagination. He also rhapsodizes on the music of crickets, katydids, bark beetles (plausibly suggesting their devastation of Western pine forests might be stopped with the aid of noise), and the water boatman (which makes the loudest sound for a creature of its size by beating its penis against its abdomen). He also riffs on human music, from Josquin des Prez's medieval chant "El Grillo" (the cricket) and the honey-gathering songs of Ituri forest pygmies to far-out bug-inspired tunes by electronic composers and techno DJs, ending with his own jams with a brood of cicadas in 2011. Not for everyone, but adventurous audiophiles will catch Rothenberg's bug for insect-music appreciation.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Do insects sing? Are they nature's percussion section? Did musical bugs inspire humans to drum, strum, and hum? Professor of philosophy and music Rothenberg believes they do, they are, and they did. With their seemingly endless mathematical noisemaking, insects laid a foundation for human music making. Both tribal drummers and electronic-music composers have drawn from the rhythms of insects. In this report on his encounters with cicadas, crickets, and katydids, the author is both broadly philosophical and highly technical, alternately telling us what insects mean when they sing and, using sonograms and anatomical illustrations, describing in detail how they produce their remarkable sounds. Rothenberg also recounts his playing clarinet and saxophone with insects in the field, on the stage, and in his recording studio. Following Why Birds Sing and Thousand Mile Song (about whale songs), Bug Music completes Rothenberg's trilogy of books about human interaction with nature's musicians.--Roche, Rick Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Alone, with no one to appreciate their sounds and ponder their significance, insects serenaded our planet for millions of years before we, or even birds, appeared on the scene. Rothenberg (philosophy & music, New Jersey Inst. of Technology; Why Birds Sing) promotes the unorthodox view that humans obtained their musicality from the influence of insect calls, particularly cicadas, crickets, and katydids. He gives examples of composers whom he believes have been inspired by them, e.g., Bela Bartok with his "night music." Rothenberg beckons us to explore sounds and understand to our core that life at every level, down to the subatomic, involves rhythm. His writing itself has a rhythm to it, a driving, often philosophical force that draws the reader in, always informative and entertaining, and chock full of fascinating stories, insights, and speculations. However, since as Rothenberg says, rhythm may well be the most basic and intrinsic part of all life, this reviewer is convinced that we would have music with or without insect calls. VERDICT This book is sure to please anyone with a natural history bent, an interest in musical structure, or a craving to explore something off the beaten path.-Annette Aiello, Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst., Balboa, Panama (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Prologue | p. 1 |
| 1 The Seventeen-Year Pitch | p. 5 |
| 2 Mr. Fung's Cricket Orchestra | p. 54 |
| 3 What Makes Them Dance? | p. 84 |
| 4 Listen Outside the Ear | p. 115 |
| 5 From El Grillo to Das Techno | p. 147 |
| 6 Throat-Singing with the Katydids of Glynwood | p. 189 |
| 7 Sax and Cicadas | p. 214 |
| Epilogue: The Opposite ofTerrorism | p. 235 |
| For Further Reading | p. 243 |
| The Bug Songs Playlist | p. 247 |
| Bug Music: The CD | p. 249 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 255 |
| Notes | p. 259 |
| Index | p. 269 |