David Rothenberg (born 1962) is a professor of philosophy and music at the

New Jersey Institute of Technology {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

, with a special interest in animal sounds as music. He is also a composer and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

musician whose books and recordings reflect a longtime interest in understanding other species such as singing insects by making music with them.

Life and work

Rothenberg graduated from Harvard and took his PhD from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. Looking back at his high school years in the 1970s, Rothenberg told Claudia Dreifus of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', "I was influenced by saxophonist Paul Winter'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 The hermit thrush (''Catharus guttatus'') 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. The specific na ...

, he heard structure that reminded him of a

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

solo. 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 Revkin Andrew C. Revkin is an American science and environmental journalist, author and educator. He has written on a wide range of subjects including destruction of the Amazon rain forest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, sustainable development, climate chan ...

, he "explores the sounds of all manner of living things as both an environmental philosopher and jazz musician." Rothenberg is a professor of philosophy and music at the

, with a special interest in animal sounds as music.

Publications

Books

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 The National Aviary, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the only independent indoor nonprofit aviary in the United States. It is also the country's largest aviary, and the only one accorded honorary "National" status by the United States Co ...

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 A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds that compose the genus ''Menura'', and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their impressive ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environ ...

. 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 (born Patrick Kevin Philip Moore, 1958) is an English writer, especially of history and biography. He instigated the Moby Dick Big Read project. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton and Leverhulme a ...

said of the book, "..while Rothenberg's madcap mission to play jazz to the whales seems as crazy as

Captain Ahab Captain Ahab is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in Herman Melville's ''Moby-Dick'' (1851). He is the monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod''. On a previous voyage, the white whale Moby Dick bit off Ahab's leg, ...

'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." His book ''Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science and Evolution'' (Bloomsbury Press, 2011) was described by the journal ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' in this way: "Rothenberg covers topics such as

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

, abstraction, the profound impact of art on science and much more to explore his theme hat beauty is not random but is intrinsic to life—and that evolution proceeds by sumptuousness, not by utility alone"

Roald Hoffmann Roald Hoffmann (born Roald Safran; July 18, 1937) is a Polish-American theoretical chemist who won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He has also published plays and poetry. He is the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters, Emeritus, at ...

said of the book, "David Rothenberg is a brilliantly fun guide on a journey that takes us from bower birds to the neuroesthetics of Semir Zeki. ''Survival of the Beautiful'' is just about the best

travel literature The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern pe ...

of the mind out there. With wit by turns gentle and sharp, Rothenberg shows us how art is shaped by animals, and by us." Peter Forbes, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', calls the book "immensely fertile", bringing together ideas from

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

, Ernst Haeckel, and

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE (2 May 1860 – 21 June 1948) was a Scottish biologist, mathematician and classics scholar. He was a pioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomat ...

. Forbes praises Rothenberg's "innocent eye for the telling image", enjoying his treatment of the bowerbirds. ''Bug Music'', a book about insects and music, was published by St Martins Press in 2013. He began this project at the 2006 International Arts Pestival in London. During the 2011 emergence of Brood XIX

periodical cicada The term periodical cicada is commonly used to refer to any of the seven species of the genus ''Magicicada'' of eastern North America, the 13- and 17-year cicadas. They are called periodical because nearly all individuals in a local population a ...

s, Rothenberg was the subject of a YouTube video as he played saxophone to accompany the mating calls of '' Magicicada tredecassini.'' ''Nightingales in Berlin: Searching for the Perfect Sounds'', was published by

The University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style'' ...

in 2019. The book follows the urban landscape of Berlin—longtime home to nightingale colonies where the birds sing ever louder in order to be heard—and invites the reader to listen in on their remarkable collaboration as birds and instruments riff off of each other's sounds.

Music

Rothenberg has recorded at least 9 albums in his own name, and has performed or recorded music with Peter Gabriel and other jazz musicians. Many of the albums have been on the Terra Nova label. * 1992 ''Nobody Could Explain It'' (Accurate 4004) * 1995: ''On the Cliffs of the Heart'' (Newtone 6744Other Rothenberg Releases
, ''TerraNovaMusic.net''. Retrieved 2018-02-11.) with

Marilyn Crispell Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrot ...

, Robi Droli; named one of the top ten releases of the year by ''JAZZIZ Magazine'' * 2005: ''Why Birds Sing'' (Terra Nova), released the same year as his book of the same nameTN0503 Why Birds Sing
, ''TerraNovaMusic.net''. Retrieved 2018-02-11. * 2006: ''Sudden Music'' (Terra Nova), released with the book of the same title, eleven compositions by Rothenberg, including ''White Crested Laugh ng', featured on ''Why Birds Sing'' * 2008: ''Whale Music'' (Terra Nova), released with the book ''Thousand Mile Song''; features Robert Jurgendal and Nils Okland * 2009: ''Whale Music Remixed'' (Terra Nova), with contributions from Scanner,

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntabli ...

Lukas Ligeti Lukas Ligeti (born in Vienna, Austria, 13 June 1965) is an Austrian-American composer and percussionist. His work incorporates elements of jazz, contemporary classical and various world musics, especially African traditional and popular music sty ...

Mira Calix Chantal Francesca Passamonte (28 October 1969 – 25 March 2022), known professionally as Mira Calix ( ), was a South African-born, British-based audio and visual artist and musician signed to Warp Records. Although her earlier music is almost ...

, Ben Neill, and Robert Rich * 2010: '' One Dark Night I Left My Silent House'' (ECM Records), with Marilyn Crispell on piano. * 2011: ''Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast'' (Terra Nova), with pianist

Lewis Porter Lewis Robert Porter (born May 14, 1951) is an American jazz pianist, composer, author, and educator. Education and career Porter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but raised primarily in the Bronx in New York City. Porter decided at age 10 that ...

* 2011: ''You Can't Get There From Here'' (monotype 038), with Scanner * 2011: ''Fifty Bucks and I'll Show You'' (Berger Platters), by the band Painted Betty: "friends in Cold Spring" * 2013: ''Bug Music'' (Terra Nova), released with the book of the same name, features cicadas,

crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 8 ...

, katydids, leafhoppers, and water bugs as well as Jürjendal, Hill, and Umru Rothenberg * 2014: ''Cicada Dream Band'' (Terra Nova), featuring composer and accordionist

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Cente ...

, overtone singer Timothy Hill (of the Harmonic Choir), and cicadas in New York * 2015: ''Berlin Bülbül'' (Terra Nova), with Korhan Erel and nightingales in Berlin ("Bülbül" is Turkish for "nightingale") * 2016: ''And Vex the Nightingale'' (Terra Nova), with accordionist Lucie Vítková and a nightingale in Berlin * 2019: Nightingales in Berlin (Terra Nova), with Cymin Samawatie, Korhan Erel, Lembe Lokk, Sanna Salmenkallio, Volker Lankow, Ines Theileis, Wassim Mukdad. Since 2014, Rothenberg has been an Ambassador of the international non-governmental humanitarian mission the '' Dolphin Embassy'', participating in non-invasive research of the possibilities of free dolphins and whales – playing music for them. In 2017, the Dolphin Embassy released the full-length documentary '' Intraterrestrial'', which received awards from international film festivals. The film's soundtrack features music by Rothenberg. Rothenberg's music appears in Imogene Drummond's animations ''Sparky'' (3', 2009) and ''Divine Sparks'' (30', 2012) In the short drama ''Whales'' (14', 2009, directed by Thomas Barnes) there are original whale recordings by Rothenberg. Reviewing ''One Dark Night I Left My Silent House'', '' Svenska Dagbladet'' wrote that Rothenberg and Crispell, "create a moment of beauty," with, "a searching minimalism," and awarded the maximum six stars. The album was well received by other critics.

Life and work

Publications

Books

Music

References

External links