David Rothenberg
Encyclopedia
David Rothenberg is a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology
, with a special interest in animal sounds as music
. He is also a jazz musician whose books and CDs reflect a longtime interest in understanding other species by making music with them.
's Common Ground album, which had his own compositions with whale and bird sounds mixed in. That got me interested in using music to learn more about the natural world."
As an undergraduate at Harvard
, Rothenberg created his own major to combine music with communication. He traveled in Europe after graduation, playing jazz clarinet. Listening to the recorded song of a hermit thrush
, he heard structure that reminded him of a Miles Davis
solo.
, Rothenberg "explores the sounds of all manner of living things as both an environmental philosopher and jazz musician."
Rothenberg's book Why Birds Sing: A Journey Into the Mystery of Bird Song (Basic Books
, 2005) was inspired by an impromptu duet in March 2000 with a laughingthrush
at the National Aviary
in Pittsburgh. In the wild, male and female laughingthrushes sing complex duets, so "jamming" with a human clarinet player was closely related to the bird's natural behavior. A CD accompanying the book also featured Rothenberg's duet with an Australian lyrebird
. The book served as the basis for a 2006 BBC documentary of the same name.
Rothenberg's book Thousand Mile Song (Basic Books, 2008) reflects similar curiosity about whale sounds considered as music. He seeks out both scientific and artistic insights into the phenomenon. Philip Hoare
said of the book, "..while Rothenberg's madcap mission to play jazz to the whales seems as crazy as Captain Ahab's demented hunt for the great White Whale, it is sometimes such obsessions that reveal inner truths...I find myself more than a little sympathetic to the author's faintly bonkers but undoubtedly stimulating intent: to push at the barriers between human history and natural history."
He is currently at work on a book about insects and music, to be published by St Martins Press in 2013, a project he began at the 2006 International Arts Pestival
in London. During the 2011 emergence of Brood XIX
periodical cicadas, Rothenberg was the subject of a YouTube video as he played saxophone to accompany the mating calls of Magicicada tredecassini
.
New Jersey Institute of Technology
New Jersey Institute of Technology is a public research university in Newark, New Jersey. It is often also referred to as Newark College of Engineering ....
, with a special interest in animal sounds as music
Animal song
An animal song is a repetitive vocal utterance of animals such as birds and whales. The term is not clearly defined in the scientific literature, though most investigators agree that an animal song must have syllabic diversity and temporal regularity akin to the repetitive and transformative...
. He is also a jazz musician whose books and CDs reflect a longtime interest in understanding other species by making music with them.
Early life and career
Looking back at his high school years in the 1970s, Rothenberg told Claudia Dreifus of the New York Times, "I was influenced by saxophonist Paul WinterPaul Winter
Paul Winter is an American saxophonist , and is a six-time Grammy Award nominee.- Biography :Paul Winter attended Altoona Area High School and graduated in 1957...
's Common Ground album, which had his own compositions with whale and bird sounds mixed in. That got me interested in using music to learn more about the natural world."
As an undergraduate at Harvard
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
, Rothenberg created his own major to combine music with communication. He traveled in Europe after graduation, playing jazz clarinet. Listening to the recorded song of a hermit thrush
Hermit Thrush
The Hermit Thrush is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of Catharus, but rather to the Mexican Russet Nightingale-thrush.-Description:...
, he heard structure that reminded him of a Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
solo.
"Interspecies musician"
Because of Rothenberg's study of animal song and his experimental interactions with animal music, he is often called an "interspecies musician." According to Andrew RevkinAndrew Revkin
Andrew C. Revkin is a journalist and author who has spent a quarter of a century covering subjects ranging from the assault on the Amazon to the Asian tsunami, from the troubled relationship of science and politics to climate change at the North Pole. From 1995 through 2009, he covered the...
, Rothenberg "explores the sounds of all manner of living things as both an environmental philosopher and jazz musician."
Rothenberg's book Why Birds Sing: A Journey Into the Mystery of Bird Song (Basic Books
Basic Books
Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1952 and located in New York. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history.-History:...
, 2005) was inspired by an impromptu duet in March 2000 with a laughingthrush
Laughingthrush
The Laughingthrushes are the genus Garrulax of the large Old World babbler family of passerine birds. They occur in tropical Asia, with the greatest number of species occurring in the Himalaya and southern China....
at the National Aviary
National Aviary
The National Aviary, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is America's only independent indoor nonprofit aviary. It is also America's largest aviary, and the only accorded honorary "National" status by the United States Congress.-Location and features:...
in Pittsburgh. In the wild, male and female laughingthrushes sing complex duets, so "jamming" with a human clarinet player was closely related to the bird's natural behavior. A CD accompanying the book also featured Rothenberg's duet with an Australian lyrebird
Lyrebird
A Lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds, that form the genus, Menura, and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. Lyrebirds have unique plumes of neutral coloured...
. The book served as the basis for a 2006 BBC documentary of the same name.
Rothenberg's book Thousand Mile Song (Basic Books, 2008) reflects similar curiosity about whale sounds considered as music. He seeks out both scientific and artistic insights into the phenomenon. Philip Hoare
Philip Hoare
Philip Hoare is an English non-fiction writer and journalist. His 2008 book Leviathan won the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize.-Bibliography:* Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant...
said of the book, "..while Rothenberg's madcap mission to play jazz to the whales seems as crazy as Captain Ahab's demented hunt for the great White Whale, it is sometimes such obsessions that reveal inner truths...I find myself more than a little sympathetic to the author's faintly bonkers but undoubtedly stimulating intent: to push at the barriers between human history and natural history."
He is currently at work on a book about insects and music, to be published by St Martins Press in 2013, a project he began at the 2006 International Arts Pestival
Pestival
Pestival is an international arts festival dedicated to ‘insects in the arts and the art of being an insect'. Pestival won the 2010 Observer Ethical Award in Conservation, and currently has a three year residency at ZSL London Zoo....
in London. During the 2011 emergence of Brood XIX
Brood XIX
Brood XIX is the largest brood of 13-year periodical cicadas, last seen in 1998 and reappearing in May and June of 2011 across a wide stretch of the southeastern United States...
periodical cicadas, Rothenberg was the subject of a YouTube video as he played saxophone to accompany the mating calls of Magicicada tredecassini
Cassini periodical cicadas
The name Cassini periodical cicadas is used to group two closely related species of periodical cicadas: Magicicada cassini , and Magicicada tredecassini , a species essentially identical except for its 13-year lifecycle.The cassini males' courting...
.