A fascinating and unique exploration of nature's music, from plants and animals to wind and rain. Radio 4 Book of the Week.
Dr Bernie Krause is a musician and naturalist. He has travelled the world recording the sounds of creatures and environments large and small, enabling thousands of people to hear the sounds of the remotest parts of the world. He has worked with, among others, Sir George Martin, George Harrison, and, on the cult film Performance, Mick Jagger. He lives in California.
Bernie Krause and his niche theory are the real thing. His
originality, research, and above all basic knowledge of the sound
environments in nature are impressive. The idea of music
originating in the sound communication systems of wild animals is a
sound and provocative hypothesis. I admire also his attention to
the preservation of ancestral-level cultures for their own value
but also as a testing ground for theory on human behavioral
evolution.
*E. O. Wilson*
The Great Animal Orchestra speaks to us of an ancient music to
which so many of us are deaf. Bernie Krause is, above all, an
artist. I have watched him recording the calls of chimpanzees, the
singing of the insects and birds, and seen his deep love for the
harmonies of nature. In this book he helps us to hear and
appreciate the often hidden musicians in a new way. But he warns
that these songs, an intrinsic part of the natural world and
essential to human well being, are vanishing, one by one, snuffed
out by human actions. Read The Great Animal Orchestra, tell your
friends about it. And as Bernie urges, let us all do our part to
preserve the age old sounds of nature.
*Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, Founder - the Jane Goodall Institute & UN
Messenger of Peace*
This fascinating book awakens our ancient ears to the source of all
music. Read it, and you'll yearn to muffle our din -- and hear
anew.
*Alan Weisman, author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US and the forthcoming
COUNTDOWN*
Krause always reveals wondrous stories of the meaning of music and
sounds of our natural environment. Bernie's research into the
subtleties of animal and insect sounds is unparalleled, but it is
his description of the radical changes that are taking place on
this planet that really makes on stop and wonder ... Listen
carefully, for the sounds you hear may never be the same again.
*Sir George Martin*
A vade mecum of ordered tranquillity -- a gift that came with the
harmony of the spheres, allowing even the smallest livings things
to sing love songs in many diverse ways while bragging that they
are the fittest and will survive above the cacophony of war. A
fascinating book of natural history, worthy to be read in the
silence your own library, please listen to what it warns about all
our futures.
*David Bellamy*
Bernie Krause will make you rethink much of what you know about
music. A man whose first job was recording the sound of corn
growing in a Kansas field, he has spent 40 years listening with
professional intent to things the rest of us ever hear. He has
studied the way ants sing and whales roar. He can track the sound a
virus makes as it moves from one surface to another. Krause is
David Attenborough without the pictures and accompanying orchestra.
He takes us close to the roots of the music and reminds us to stop
and listen, not just lose our bearings in noise.It's such an
unusual book -- and, in its quiet way, so important.
Remarkable.
*Norman Lebrecht*
Bernie Krause, one of the lions of soundscape recording, shares his
tales of jaguars, wind, and waterfalls, and how hard it is to
capture their sounds. Who knew before that the most emotional
animal sound he ever heard was the wail of a beaver after seeing
his dam destroyed? Krause has spent decades hunting for those few
sonic oases untrammeled by human noise, and at last he brings us
his life philosophy. This expansive tale of living amidst wild and
beautiful sounds has been well worth waiting for.
*David Rothenberg, ECM recording artist, and author of THOUSAND
MILE SONG and SURVIVAL OF THE BEAUTIFUL*
I found this book to be a truly absorbing account of the natural
world which will benefit all of us who are concerned about the
habitats and survival of the planet's remaining wildlife. This book
should and will be an inspiration to us all. I loved it.
*Terry Nutkins*
Beautifully written and intriguing. Reading this book makes you
feel as though you've just removed plugs from your ears; the
symphony of the world moves from background to centre stage.
*David Eagleman, author of Sum and Incognito*
An imaginative introduction to a new dimension of the natural
world
*Kirkus Reviews*
This memoir of sonic investigation highlights the lessons learned
from 40 years of listening to the world's biophonies-the sounds of
living organisms. Musician and naturalist Krause uses the language
of music to understand everything from birdsong, to ocean waves, to
decimated habitats...to answer his questions about the origins of
music, especially how the sonic structures inherent in biophany
impacted human expression to take the form of music.
*Publishers Weekly*
Language is rich with dozens of words for the act of seeing - look,
stare, peek, ogle, glimpse, squint, gawk, etc. - but the act of
listening is represented by only two: hear and listen. The Great
Animal Orchestra, rectifies this shortfall with its rich
descriptions of biophony, Krause's immensely useful term for the
increasingly threatened sound fields of life on the planet Earth.
Readers will enjoy not only Krause's personal story - his
fifty-year journey uncovering the world of natural sound textures,
their meanings and implications - but will feel as if they have
experienced these sounds, ancient and modern, for themselves. The
world will not seem the same to you after reading this marvelous
book.
*Walter Murch, Academy-award winning sound editor for Apocalypse
Now and The English Patient*
Krause shows us the music of the natural world - long may his work
continue!
*Pete Seeger*
Discover how each species has its own vocal niche in the intricate
soundscape of a stable ecosystem.
*Temple Grandin, author Animals in Translation*
All this magnificent, if arcane, knowledge has now been brought
together by Krause in a masterly tour of the soundscape. Entitled
The Great Animal Orchestra, it makes a convincing case for the
soundscape's overlooked value, partly for itself, and partly as an
indication of the health of the natural world, and for one
overwhelming reason for us as humans: in nature's collective voice,
he says, can be located the origins of human music, and perhaps
even human language
*Independent*
At the heart of this idiosyncratic volume is Krause's niche
hypothesis ... Krause comes across as a likelable oddball,
extolling the virtues of homemade clip-on cats ears and the
authentic kind of ant music ... the book's coda is a passionate
plea to halt human noise pollution
*Sunday Telegraph*
In his fascinating book, Krause urges us to open our ears ... his
tone is full of wonder
*Daily Mail*
A fascinating plea for humanity to turn the volume down and just
listen
*Herald*
A passionate advocate ... Krause writes with a rush of enthusiasm
for the subject
*BBC Wildlife*
Weird and wonderful ... This is an extraordinary and important
book. I challenge anyone to read it and not hear for themselves
sounds they have never heard - or rather never noticed - before. I
walk out now onto a refreshed, renewed moor: I accept sadly that it
does not have the depth and complexity that it had even half a
century ago, but I can hear it better and walk more softly myself
after reading The Great Animal Orchestra
*Spectator*
Alluring ... a fun and informative read that is likely to change
the way that any reader listens to soundscapes, both urban and
rural
*Sunday Times*
A wonderful advertisement for the effects of natural sound ...
Krause writes like the field naturalist he is, attentively and with
a light tread ... the optimism of his spirit is infectious: this is
one of those books you are grateful to have read
*Independent*
The way Krause describes what he hears will make you want to put on
a pair of headphones and sit in the forest for a day
*Conservation Magazine*
This is far more than a book of charming factoids...it's a profound
meditation on why the earth makes its sounds and how everything -
birdsong, waves hitting beaches, the grunts of animals, the patter
of rainfall in a tropical forest - is part of a constantly evolving
and interconnected process ... Krause combines learned theorising
with tales of his own adventures and the result is a spirited and
constantly surprising book
*Geographical*
A beautifully written and surprising book, packed with colourful
stories
*Guardian*
Bernie Krause and his niche theory are the real thing. His
originality, research, and above all basic knowledge of the sound
environments in nature are impressive. The idea of music
originating in the sound communication systems of wild animals is a
sound and provocative hypothesis. I admire also his attention to
the preservation of ancestral-level cultures for their own value
but also as a testing ground for theory on human behavioral
evolution. -- E. O. Wilson
The Great Animal Orchestra speaks to us of an ancient music to
which so many of us are deaf. Bernie Krause is, above all, an
artist. I have watched him recording the calls of chimpanzees, the
singing of the insects and birds, and seen his deep love for the
harmonies of nature. In this book he helps us to hear and
appreciate the often hidden musicians in a new way. But he warns
that these songs, an intrinsic part of the natural world and
essential to human well being, are vanishing, one by one, snuffed
out by human actions. Read The Great Animal Orchestra, tell your
friends about it. And as Bernie urges, let us all do our part to
preserve the age old sounds of nature. -- Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE,
Founder - the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace
This fascinating book awakens our ancient ears to the source of all
music. Read it, and you'll yearn to muffle our din -- and hear
anew. -- Alan Weisman, author of THE WORLD WITHOUT US and the
forthcoming COUNTDOWN
Krause always reveals wondrous stories of the meaning of music and
sounds of our natural environment. Bernie's research into the
subtleties of animal and insect sounds is unparalleled, but it is
his description of the radical changes that are taking place on
this planet that really makes on stop and wonder ... Listen
carefully, for the sounds you hear may never be the same again. --
Sir George Martin
A vade mecum of ordered tranquillity -- a gift that came with the
harmony of the spheres, allowing even the smallest livings things
to sing love songs in many diverse ways while bragging that they
are the fittest and will survive above the cacophony of war. A
fascinating book of natural history, worthy to be read in the
silence your own library, please listen to what it warns about all
our futures. -- David Bellamy
Bernie Krause will make you rethink much of what you know about
music. A man whose first job was recording the sound of corn
growing in a Kansas field, he has spent 40 years listening with
professional intent to things the rest of us ever hear. He has
studied the way ants sing and whales roar. He can track the sound a
virus makes as it moves from one surface to another. Krause is
David Attenborough without the pictures and accompanying orchestra.
He takes us close to the roots of the music and reminds us to stop
and listen, not just lose our bearings in noise.It's such an
unusual book -- and, in its quiet way, so important. Remarkable. --
Norman Lebrecht
Bernie Krause, one of the lions of soundscape recording, shares his
tales of jaguars, wind, and waterfalls, and how hard it is to
capture their sounds. Who knew before that the most emotional
animal sound he ever heard was the wail of a beaver after seeing
his dam destroyed? Krause has spent decades hunting for those few
sonic oases untrammeled by human noise, and at last he brings us
his life philosophy. This expansive tale of living amidst wild and
beautiful sounds has been well worth waiting for. -- David
Rothenberg, ECM recording artist, and author of THOUSAND MILE SONG
and SURVIVAL OF THE BEAUTIFUL
I found this book to be a truly absorbing account of the natural
world which will benefit all of us who are concerned about the
habitats and survival of the planet's remaining wildlife. This book
should and will be an inspiration to us all. I loved it. -- Terry
Nutkins
Beautifully written and intriguing. Reading this book makes you
feel as though you've just removed plugs from your ears; the
symphony of the world moves from background to centre stage. --
David Eagleman, author of Sum and Incognito
An imaginative introduction to a new dimension of the natural world
* Kirkus Reviews *
This memoir of sonic investigation highlights the lessons learned
from 40 years of listening to the world's biophonies-the sounds of
living organisms. Musician and naturalist Krause uses the language
of music to understand everything from birdsong, to ocean waves, to
decimated habitats...to answer his questions about the origins of
music, especially how the sonic structures inherent in biophany
impacted human expression to take the form of music. * Publishers
Weekly *
Language is rich with dozens of words for the act of seeing - look,
stare, peek, ogle, glimpse, squint, gawk, etc. - but the act of
listening is represented by only two: hear and listen. The Great
Animal Orchestra, rectifies this shortfall with its rich
descriptions of biophony, Krause's immensely useful term for the
increasingly threatened sound fields of life on the planet Earth.
Readers will enjoy not only Krause's personal story - his
fifty-year journey uncovering the world of natural sound textures,
their meanings and implications - but will feel as if they have
experienced these sounds, ancient and modern, for themselves. The
world will not seem the same to you after reading this marvelous
book. -- Walter Murch, Academy-award winning sound editor for
Apocalypse Now and The English Patient
Krause shows us the music of the natural world - long may his work
continue! -- Pete Seeger
Discover how each species has its own vocal niche in the intricate
soundscape of a stable ecosystem. -- Temple Grandin, author Animals
in Translation
All this magnificent, if arcane, knowledge has now been brought
together by Krause in a masterly tour of the soundscape. Entitled
The Great Animal Orchestra, it makes a convincing case for the
soundscape's overlooked value, partly for itself, and partly as an
indication of the health of the natural world, and for one
overwhelming reason for us as humans: in nature's collective voice,
he says, can be located the origins of human music, and perhaps
even human language -- Michael McCarthy * Independent *
At the heart of this idiosyncratic volume is Krause's niche
hypothesis ... Krause comes across as a likelable oddball,
extolling the virtues of homemade clip-on cats ears and the
authentic kind of ant music ... the book's coda is a passionate
plea to halt human noise pollution * Sunday Telegraph *
In his fascinating book, Krause urges us to open our ears ... his
tone is full of wonder * Daily Mail *
A fascinating plea for humanity to turn the volume down and just
listen * Herald *
A passionate advocate ... Krause writes with a rush of enthusiasm
for the subject * BBC Wildlife *
Weird and wonderful ... This is an extraordinary and important
book. I challenge anyone to read it and not hear for themselves
sounds they have never heard - or rather never noticed - before. I
walk out now onto a refreshed, renewed moor: I accept sadly that it
does not have the depth and complexity that it had even half a
century ago, but I can hear it better and walk more softly myself
after reading The Great Animal Orchestra -- Sara Maitland *
Spectator *
Alluring ... a fun and informative read that is likely to change
the way that any reader listens to soundscapes, both urban and
rural * Sunday Times *
A wonderful advertisement for the effects of natural sound ...
Krause writes like the field naturalist he is, attentively and with
a light tread ... the optimism of his spirit is infectious: this is
one of those books you are grateful to have read -- Marek Kohn *
Independent *
The way Krause describes what he hears will make you want to put on
a pair of headphones and sit in the forest for a day * Conservation
Magazine *
This is far more than a book of charming factoids...it's a profound
meditation on why the earth makes its sounds and how everything -
birdsong, waves hitting beaches, the grunts of animals, the patter
of rainfall in a tropical forest - is part of a constantly evolving
and interconnected process ... Krause combines learned theorising
with tales of his own adventures and the result is a spirited and
constantly surprising book * Geographical *
A beautifully written and surprising book, packed with colourful
stories -- Steven Poole * Guardian *
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