Pied Butcherbird (Wikimedia) A few weeks ago we Re:Tweeted the Australian magpie, and it’s back to the island continent for perhaps its greatest songster. These two species create the sonic backdrop to so many Australian landscapes; it is not surprising that since the early twentieth century composers have been inspired by them.
This morning Miranda Krestovnikoff presented the bird that has probably inspired more composers than any other non-European species. In the latest of our Re:Tweets we look at the pied butcherbird of Australia. Click the button to hear the original Radio 4 Tweet of the Day.
This morning Miranda Krestovnikoff presented the bird that has probably inspired more composers than any other non-European species. In the latest of our Re:Tweets we look at the pied butcherbird of Australia. Click the button to hear the original Radio 4 Tweet of the Day.
Indeed, birdsong seems to be an especially important influence among composers seeking to add a truly Australian voice to western tradition. Henry Tate (1873-1926) actively encouraged this and two more generations of composers, from the late Peter Sculthorpe (1928-2014) to Brett Dean (b.1961) and John Rodgers (b. 1962) have appropriated birdsong and other natural sounds as a key ingredient in developing an Australian music that is today among the most vibrant and constantly evolving in the western world.
the pied butcherbird is a virtuoso of composition and improvisation
For Tate, the butcherbird was a particularly valuable resource. “The slow and dreamy prelude of the butcherbird naturally expands into musical sentences.” David Lumsdaine (b. Sydney 1931) has created recorded soundscapes, dance pieces and a string quartet based on butcherbird song. He writes “the pied butcherbird is a virtuoso of composition and improvisation: the long solo develops like a mosaic, through the varied repetition of its phrases. In the course of the song, some elements remain constant, some elements transform through addition and elimination. The bird is a virtuoso of decoration: there is an extraordinary delicacy in the way it articulates the harmonic course of its song with microtonal inflections...”
Ron Nagorcka There has even been a PhD thesis, by Hollis Taylor, on composers’ use of the butcherbird song, exploring whether birdsong can be thought of as music in its own right. Taylor concludes that the butcherbird’s “elaborate song culture seems to overreach biological necessity, indicating an aesthetic appreciation of sound.”
Composer, performer, and naturalist Ron Nagorcka (b. 1948) grew up on a sheep farm in Western Victoria. Artamidae (2004) is his five-movement suite celebrating a family of Australian songbirds: the grey butcherbird, Australian magpie, black currawong, pied butcherbird, and grey currawong. He uses a fretless electric guitar to achieve the particular microtonal details he identifies as just intonation - the natural effect of diving or multiplying pitch frequencies in simple ratios. This makes butcherbird song sound slightly out of tune to western ears.
I’m not sure I agree with the analysis, but I do like Nagorcka’s idea that being literally in tune with nature (as opposed to western scales) is something a female listens for in selecting a mate.
Composer, performer, and naturalist Ron Nagorcka (b. 1948) grew up on a sheep farm in Western Victoria. Artamidae (2004) is his five-movement suite celebrating a family of Australian songbirds: the grey butcherbird, Australian magpie, black currawong, pied butcherbird, and grey currawong. He uses a fretless electric guitar to achieve the particular microtonal details he identifies as just intonation - the natural effect of diving or multiplying pitch frequencies in simple ratios. This makes butcherbird song sound slightly out of tune to western ears.
I’m not sure I agree with the analysis, but I do like Nagorcka’s idea that being literally in tune with nature (as opposed to western scales) is something a female listens for in selecting a mate.
perhaps the most magical sound found on the whole Australian continent
The last word should go to Brett Dean (b.1961) who, like Sculthorpe, often finds the music through which to express a deep concern for the environment. His Pastoral Symphony incorporates a recording of the butcherbird. Dean comments: “Sure, we all love nature, but what we love more are all the trappings of modern living... certainly more than the desire to stop and bask in the glory of a single butcherbird, perhaps the most magical sound found on the whole Australian continent. This piece, then, is about glorious birdsong, the threat that it faces, the loss, and the soulless noise that we're left with when they're all gone.”
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