Classical Music in the Anthropocene

ECOMUSICOLOGY NEWSLETTER! APRIL, 2014 Classical Music in the Anthropocene by Nathan Currier Editor’s Note: Currier picks up his argument $om the previous issue and advocates for an ecomusicology that is more “ecological” than “ecocritical.” The ideas presented here are rich and wi" surely provoke discussion, not only regarding the cited authors and the topics of interest to ecomusicology and climate communication, but also to more traditional musicological inquiry. For example, what connections are there between Currier’s Gaian Variations (2004) and Libby Larsen’s Missa Gaia: Mass for the Earth (1992), as we" as Paul Winter’s Missa Gaia / Earth Mass (1982)? Do their changing engagements with Gaia reflect the arrival of the anthropocene? The Ecomusicology Newsletter welcomes responses to this thoughtful and thought-provoking contribution. -- Aaron S. A"en The opening of one paper by leading climate The arts are unquestionably vital to all human scientist James Hansen put it bluntly: “Climate cultures, and it should not be controversial to change is likely to be the predominant scientific, suggest that something as monumental as Hansen economic, political and moral issue of the 21st describes will drastically impact every aspect of century” (Hansen, 2011). Hansen will eventually be culture, including all arts. Nine years after right, whether through intense adaptive activity or McKibben’s article, there is new talk of “cli-fi,” the inordinate su"ering. But now? Back in 2005, genre of climate fiction, and yet I hope such a prominent climate activist Bill McKibben wrote an development only reveals the problematic relation Earth Day article looking at climate and the arts: between McKibben’s observations and Hansen’s: “Oddly, though we know about it,” he said, “we now there is a new climate “genre,” and yet the don’t know about it. It hasn’t registered in our gut; it climate crisis feels little closer to the collective gut. isn’t part of our culture. Where are the books? The The problems lie elsewhere, but time is running poems? The plays? The goddamn operas?” out. Nathan Currier is an American Lowman (the first geologist to join NASA, composer. He studied at Jui"iard and and later a founder of comparative Peabody, was the Leonard Bernstein planetology) a chapter of the book Fe"ow in composition at Tanglewood, and Chimeras and Consciousness (MIT also holds a Diploma with First Prize $om Press, 2011). When NASA celebrated the the Royal Conservatory of Belgium. 50th year of its exobiology program, a His compositions have been heard at passage $om their chapter “Life's prestigious venues, $om Avery Fisher Ha" Tectonics” (concerning the role of life and at Lincoln Center to the Philharmonie in water on tectonics here on earth) was read Berlin, and he is a winner of many prizes in the opening keynote address. and awards, such as the Rome Prize, Currier is also active in climate Gu%enheim, American Academy of Arts science. He has been a member of Al Gore’s & Letters’ Academy Award, National Climate Project since 2007 and became Endowment for the Arts, Fulbright, Senior Climate Advisor and methane NYFA, Fromm, Ives, Barlow, and specialist for Public Policy Virginia. He ASCAP awards and prizes. has spoken at Columbia University, New The topic of Currier's largest musical York University, and UNICEF work is Gaia theory, which views the Headquarters at the United Nations, Earth as a single self-regulating entity. His among many others, and has presented to massive oratorio Gaian Variations was about 1,000 people on climate change. Since premiered at Avery Fisher Ha" by the last year he has been writing about climate Brooklyn Philharmonic for Earth Day issues for Hu(ngton Post, and recently 2004. Currier has more recently become served as a panelist for a segment of Gore's involved with Gaia theory itself, co- “24 Hours of Reality” which live-streamed authoring with NASA scientist Paul D. to a viewership of 8.5 mi"ion. VOLUME III, NUMBER 1! PAGE 8 ECOMUSICOLOGY NEWSLETTER! APRIL, 2014 Thus far, there has really only been one cultural became the “theme” of the oratorio, when I began object o"ered to help the mind conceptualize the composing it in 1997. This month marks the tenth Earth and its climate – Gaia, the idea of James anniversary of its controversial premiere, and the Lovelock and Lynn Margulis. The scientific intervening decade has seen many things: the community has been uncomfortable with the name, addition of 5, to atmospheric CO2, the incredible especially here in the United States, but the name loss of about 50, – within a single decade – in the itself is not necessary, and nowadays there are a annual minimum summer arctic sea ice volume (see wide variety of higher education degree programs in Polar Science Center; for discussion see McKie, “Earth Systems Science,” if one prefers to call it 2012), and on the other side of the ledger, the positive that. But one needs some kind of organizing development of a new field of musical study – principle of thought to begin conceptualizing ecomusicology. What follows is my contribution to planetary-scale processes. Needless to say, most the vivacious debates surrounding ecomusicology, in cannot pursue such degree programs, and part of the hope that I might provide some small positive the wisdom in Nobel laureate William Golding contribution towards our infinitely larger problem. naming Lovelock’s idea “Gaia” was that it packed so I agree with Aaron Allen (2011) that the field is much into one little word, reaching the gut. currently best considered as “ecocriticism + Gaia’s importance in understanding climate can musicology,” and not “ecology + musicology.” A key best be expressed in Hansen’s saying simply, in the point of this essay is to argue for the profound need same paper quoted previously, that “feedbacks are to add that other ecomusicology, far more science- the core of the climate problem.” Lovelock was based, that would constitute “ecology + musicology.” initially going to call his idea the “Earth feedback The current ecocritical musicology should of course hypothesis,” and it was the first use of feedbacks continue on in parallel, but the special value of what applied to the global scale, which Lovelock saw as I am suggesting stems from the particular and the core of planetary self-regulation. It is no longer peculiar place of music among the arts. At least controversial to suggest that a direct inspiration of since the time of Phythagoras, music has been Earth Systems Science is found in Lovelock’s work. associated, perhaps more than any other art, with To go back to McKibben, whatever name you want what might be called the “enchantments of science.” to use for it, you cannot know the climate unless C.P. Snow’s oft-cited divide between the sciences you know “G---.” The climate scientists don’t need and humanities, as will be explored in this essay, is help conceptualizing complex global processes, but complex and has grown from, among other things, everyone else does, and the scientific community unfortunate developments in the nature of the has not o"ered any other mental tools to help. That scientific enterprise itself. As it has before, however, is our problem. classical music and its education might play a Precisely a year before McKibben’s article, for powerful role in healing such rifts that grew within Earth Day 2004, a large musical work about Gaia twentieth-century culture. theory, Gaian Variations, was premiered at Avery A science-based ecomusicology, on the other Fisher Hall. The New York Times music critic began hand, is likely to be unsuccessful without something his review referring to its texts as “mostly akin to Gaia theory. There is little question that, in pseudoscientific.” Fortunately, few agree with his the recent history of science, Lovelock played a key view now, and the score of the work will soon be on role by having initiated something that brought the display at the prestigious London Museum of Earth and life sciences closer together, but what is less Science. But composers mostly want their works often observed is how, with its deep well of cultural performed, and the premiere was also, notoriously, resonance, Gaia could similarly help bring all these cut o" mid-stream for “overtime” when the sciences closer together with the rest of culture, orchestra had barely performed two hours of its helping resolve the “Two Cultures” dilemma. Indeed, three hour contract – perhaps as good a metaphor Allen, in his own discussion of Snow’s essay, looks out as any for what might now await us. at our looming climate crisis and worries about the I composed Gaian Variations. Its origins go back future of education. Observing a curriculum that Paul to 1991, when I was part of an installation project Erlich recommended for creating environmentally called The Earth is Dying, the music for which literate citizens, Allen wonders if this might just VOLUME III, NUMBER 1! PAGE 9 ECOMUSICOLOGY NEWSLETTER! APRIL, 2014 reinforce the “Two Cultures” problem in a new way – converter (see Environmental Protection Agency, by mostly eliminating the humanities (Allen, 2012). 2012, page ES-10, and Environmental Protection Degrees in Earth Systems Science, or Erlich’s Agency, 1998; for discussion, see Wald, 1998); and environmental curriculum, are indeed vastly time- probably even the fixing of the ozone hole (see consuming undertakings, but Margulis became IPCC, 2001, Chapter 6.4, and IPCC/TEAP, 2005) interested in her later years with the idea of creating a all increase radiative forcing (a perturbation in the Gaia curriculum (see “Gaia by Any Other Name” in planet’s energy balance which leads to an increase or Schneider et al., 2004), and in fact Gaia curricula of decrease in the mean surface temperature).

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