Today, more and more of us are thinking about nature, concerned about climate change. We’re enjoying the great outdoors, finding both solace and rejuvenation in nature and taking action to support our environment in ways we can. Composers, too, are tackling issues around the environment through their music. The great film composer, Howard Shore, recently composed a guitar concerto called The Forest. Choral composer Chris Hutchings, an advocate of social and environmental justice who runs Choirs for Climate, wrote Let Them Not Say for Earth Day in 2021, and it is beautifully symbolic of global warming. Composers through the ages have found inspiration in nature, including some of our favourites, like Mendelssohn, Vivaldi and Copland. The Czech composer Bedřich Smetana followed the great river than runs through Prague, in his tone poem, The Moldau. Manuel da Falla captured an intoxicating atmosphere in his evocative Nights in the Gardens of Spain. And Darius Milhaud tried to imagine how it all began in La Création du Monde (Creation of the World). This two-week course is brand new, a continuation of the Music and Nature course offered in 2021 (Part I is not a prerequisite). We’ll explore classical music through the ages connected with various aspects of the environment, we’ll discuss how nature inspired the composers, and of course, we’ll listen to a wide range of evocative music. Classes will take place in person and will also be streamed via Zoom for those who prefer to attend virtually. Recordings will be available for those who cannot attend live.
