Fern Jennings

I have spent an enjoyable part of my summer early mornings and evenings on my screen porch listening to the animal orchestra outside. The sounds of cicadas, crickets, frogs and other insects are punctuated by the songs and cries of birds. Add to this the sound of wind in the trees or the patter of rain to make a fitting summer soundtrack to my reading of Bug Music-How insects Gave Us Rhythm and Noise by musician and philosopher David Rothenberg. Part science, part philosophy, part nature log, Rothenberg makes us aware of the sounds that insects make around us. His inspiration was the emergence of the seventeen year magicicadas in the East. Our own Ohio cicadas are due to emerge in 2016. Rothenberg has recorded a companion CD to the book on which he

 plays clarinet and sax with the insects or enhances the soundscape with electronic sounds.

I doubt I will have my choir sing along with recorded insect tracks although I have toyed with the idea of singing in my church's beautiful permaculture garden in the evening. Rothenberg makes a case that the rhythm of insect sounds inspired the first efforts of humans at making music. There is mystery in the woods out there- in the variety of tone, pitch, and rhythm of these non-human sounds. Rothenberg writes: "These melodies and rhythms really can reach from our species on out into the world of cicadas, a species very different from us in so many ways except that they, too, need to sing, mate, live, and die."

All the best to you for enchanted summer evenings,

Fern

HAVE YOU RENEWED 

If you have not sent you your membership renewal, please to so. The deadline is approaching to have your name listed in our member directory.

Web Site

Job Openings/Substitutes

Join AGO