What is ecomusicology? Definition and examples
Ecomusicology addresses music and sound in relation to ecology and the environment, via music, culture, and nature.
The term melds ‘ecocriticism’ (not ‘ecology’) with ‘musicology’ – ecocriticism being the study of the intersection of literature and the environment, while musicology “encompasses [the study of] various aspects of music from all cultures and historical periods”. Though first used in the 1960s and then developing side by side with increases in environmental awareness, it wasn’t until around the turn of the millennium that use of the term became more widespread.
This field can be seen as having originated from the work of R. Murray Schafer (see Earth.fm’s articles about him and the World Soundscape Project, which he founded) and his definition of the soundscape. However, the flexibility of ecomusicology’s definition has enabled it to bring together various disciplines, while other influences include “sound studies, zoömusicology, music education, music theory, anthropology, communication studies, bioacoustics, geography, political science, and sociology” – meaning that ecomusicology is able to be, variously, “environmental, relational, holistic, systemic, explanatory, and crisis-oriented”. This versatility is reflected in the broadness of the reading of musicology which it employs, “including […] historical musicology, ethnomusicology, and other related interdisciplinary fields”.
Through its broadness, ecomusicology has become “a wholly dynamic field”, including its “drawing on literary methodologies (e.g. gender and sexuality studies)”. One function of this field can be to allow greater understanding of the ways in which composers have been inspired and influenced by the natural world. (See Earth.fm’s article ‘Eight Pieces of Classical Music Inspired by the Natural World’ for examples.) In this way, ecomusicology is considered to be able to “offer fresh approaches to confronting old problems in music and culture […] [by] connect[ing] them with environmental concerns”.
Even more expansively, ecomusicology “connects sound and music to the world around us [in a way which] is absolutely necessary as we navigate an ever-changing and increasingly noisy world”. In doing so, it raises questions as fundamental as, “What is this thing called music after all?”
Listen to a playlist of ecomusicologically relevant tracks here.
Featured photo by Ivan Bandura on Unsplash
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