Natural Influence, Natural Beauty

Picture taken (by my brother) on a walk near my house in Devon

An interesting article about a new study into Birdsong had caught my interest, undertaken by Aberdeen University and brought to public attention by the BBC (click here if you want to read it). It brings to light, although perhaps in a over-scrutised, scientific way, the affect natural sounds have on the human psyche. How much influence do we gather from the "everyday"sounds that surround us? It's already obvious that some composers and artists draw directly from nature. The French composer Berio, writing mainly in the early half of the 20th Century, would go out on walks with his analog tape recorder and document birdsong. He'd record over separate seasons and during different times of day. These samples would then be transcribed to notational score by Berio himself. Entire symphonic pieces were written based totally around the melodic birdcalls, adapted in its rythmically abstract form. Even modern music references the sounds of nature. Bands such as British Sea Power and The Animal Collective use actual recorded birdsong, wind russling in the trees, even going to such lengths as to record themselves physically outside. We have The Animal Collective to thank for that in particular. Playing your own music in the middle of an open field must be a beautifully strange and humbling experience. Also, it's impossible for me to forget the soft, reassuring waves that close Alone in Kyoto by Air. Could it be some type of nostalgia, or simply accessing the indescribable connection we have with our our world. Of course, whats more interesting is how we are influenced subliminally by nature. The idea that these sounds creep into our art without us realising it is intruiging, if not inspirational in itself. I'm probably going off on one here but it's almost like a study of the etimology of our musical system and understanding. The origin of our cry of unique animal expression.
Living in a city my ears are perpetually swarmed by background noise, the sounds of the traffic, the murmur of the crounds pushing through the high street in mad consumer frenzy. Surely, this subconciously manifests itself in my music. Could I be writing under a mood that comes from urban living? It's certainly fair to say setting has its affect on the artist, and ultimately on the art. Would Gustov Mahler been able to create that grand, expressive 9th Symphony without the seclusion of his back garden hut? Where would Beethoven's 6th "Pastoral" Symphony be without his walks in the Austrian countryside? Those Romantics got seriously obssesive about using nature as sublime inspiration. Maybe this study will answer these questions, probably not. Either way, it's important for an artisit to consider his influences and, possibly at the same time, gaze at the sky though his window.