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Listening Report – David Rothenberg: Insect Choir

The “Insect Choir” by David Rothenberg consists of the composer himself playing the clarinet and the sounds of an insect swarm.

The sounds of the swarm remind me as a listener of some kind of rustling. Nevertheless, the sound of the swarm is very well-known for the listener and is easily recognizable after knowing the title of the composition. The sound made by the insects has a very calming on me as a listener. This calming ambience is mostly caused by the steady flow of sounds without any major changes.

The play of the clarinet by the composer disrupts the feeling of calm experienced by the listener since it breaks the steady flow of the swarm sounds. Additionally, the sounds made by the clarinet do not find in any way to the sounds made by the insects and can therefore also be seen as a rather uncomfortable noise.

Due to the knowledge given by the composer about the swarm sounds appearing during the period of mating for the insects, the listener can perceive the sounds as the sound of life. However, I as a listener interpret the sounds as a sound of the wild and untamed nature since insect swarms can no longer be seen or heard in many human-populated environments. Only in true, untouched nature can insect swarms mate in high numbers which causes the sounds that resemble a choir.

By focusing on sounds made by mostly uninhabited nature, the composer could have intended to give a message for the listener about the decrease of nature and the sounds created by it with the ability to give the listener a feeling of peace as a heavy contrast to the noise caused by civilized, human-made environments which also cause the decrease of nature.

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