NGUYỄN TIẾN MẠNH*

The article briefs the methods of crafting the nature in music,
especially the genre of New Age through its development phases.

Keyword: Nguyễn Tiến Mạnh, New music, New Age, Nature in music.

As we know, natural elements have been found in classic music masterpieces through many periods, such as Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classic, Historical Romance, twentieth century and the contemporary. In most of those pieces, composers utilized musical instruments’ functions to simply simulate natural sounds or even build an image of nature in musical creative works. However, the universe has never stop shifting and neither have people’s musical tastes and aesthetic views of art. This is one of the reasons for the release of new musical compositions which are supposed to meet varied tastes. It can be said that the image of nature appeared more clearly and specifically in musical pieces from the second half of the twentieth century to the twenty-first century. Many composers mixed electronic sounds or natural sounds (recorded in fields or in daily life) to make musical works.

There were various trends and measures of using natural sounds in music pieces, among which the most outstanding was New Age. 

The open encyclopedia Wikipedia wrote: “New-age music is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is associated with environmentalism and New Age spirituality”.

The definition above corroborates that natural sounds were brought into musical works with the clear purpose of meeting people’s needs and showing the creativity in composition. However, this issue is controversial within the circle of professional composers, since many believe that images in music must be aesthetically sophisticated and accordingly natural sounds cannot be used trivially to express human feelings.

But why do music lovers like to hear creatures’ sounds such as a bird’s cheep, the gurgle of a stream, the rustle of leaves on trees in the forests, howling wind, falling snow, oceanic waves, rain drops, tornadoes, street life, a baby crying, people chatting in markets, and so on, in musical works? There surely are many arguments about this issue. Hence, this paper will introduce some musical pieces which contain natural sounds.

Among many New Age music bands in the world, Bandari, a Swiss band that debuted in 1990, is one of the most noticeable. The band is comprised of composers, musicians, and sound developers and is led by Oliver Schwartz. 

The band went to almost every famous lake and river, such as the Rhine River, and climbed up high mountain ranges in Europe, such as the Alps, where they recorded natural sounds of leaves moving, water flowing through rocks, and birds singing in the early morning, and then harmonized the sounds with gentle melodies to make up songs for their CDs. Listening to Bandari’s music, we will feel like we are facing a cool breeze, watching a pure stream flow or enjoying the beauty of a vast green meadow. Each of their works brings a very poetic space and fills listeners’ minds with calm and peacefulness. These feelings appear when we listen to songs such as: Melody of Rain, Good Morning Sunshine, The First Snowflakes.

Another famous New Age band is Secret Garden, of which the members are Norwegian pianist cum composer Rolf Løvland and Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry. With the song Nocturne, they sold over three million albums and won the first prize in a Eurovision music contest in 1995.  Based on the information from Wikipedia and online articles, it can be said that the greatest hit of Secret Garden in Eurovision was the album Songs from a Secret Garden, since it sold one million copies around the world; it was considered as a platinum album in Norway and Korea, as a golden album in Ireland, Hong Kong and New Zealand and was listed in Billboard’s New Age category in 1996 and 1997. Their album White Stones made the Top Ten of Billboard New Age in 1997. In 1999, they released the album Dawn of a New Century, with lyrics written by Petter Skavlan. In 2001, the band made two albums, Dreamcatcher and Once in a Red Moon, which also made the Top Ten list on Billboard.

Though using natural sounds is not all the band brings to their works, it appears repeatedly in the melodies and the mix of songs. The natural sounds found there are of sea waves, raindrops, heartbeats and so on.  I am sure you will hear them when listening to the hits of Secet Garden, such as Nocturne, Pastorale, Song from a Secret Garden, Sigma, Serenade to Spring and Adagio.

The presence of nature in music sometimes is not explicit, but it is obvious some other times. We can feel these interesting natural sounds in musical works released in Taiwan by Chinese producer Wu Chin-Tai, in cooperation with Wind Music Records, such as The Forest Show, My Ocean, and their latest CD, Birds II: Where the Sounds of Nature Dwell, a New Age work produced in 2013.

Living close to nature, people will possibly have strong feelings, easily find self-motivation, and come up with creative ideas of art. Natural sounds and scenes substantially contribute to the sophisticated animation of musical works that we can feel. Bringing subtle creativity into their products, many composers use musical instruments to not simply simulate the natural sounds but also demonstrate nature and real life. That makes great songs with magnificent melodies and other consistent musical elements.

In Thailand, some composers have joined the New Age trend. Noticeably, Thai artist Chamras Saewataporn, who released CD Season of Life, which was mixed at a studio in Bangkok, Thailand. The River of Forever, one of the songs on that CD,is filled with the sound of a stream flowing and a flute being played by artist Nukoon Panyadee. Its content is about a peaceful space beside a beautiful stream and the thoughts of people about life when the time goes by like the stream’s flow. The water keeps flowing, like the endless circle of day and night, the immortal spirit of humanity and the infinity of nature.

Nowadays, among a huge number of products of several musical genres, nature-inspired musical works effectively relax people. Instead of extravagantly spending money and time on the tours to explore spectacular primeval forests, fantastic beaches and wild lands for the environment change after hard-working days, we can probably enjoy the same natural beautiful spaces by listening to sophisticated melodies of musical discs.

This already has been considered by many music lovers. That we seem to really stay in a wonderland just by listening to a musical piece is so miraculous. Talented Canadian artist Dan Gison successfully created that miracle. In his career in photography, cinema technique and sound recording, Gison had many accomplishments, noticeably in his techniques for recording wildlife and natural sounds. In 1946, he founded the Dan Gison Productions Limited Company and began to make movies about nature and television dramas. With his profound love for the beauty of nature, Dan Gison recorded varied sounds of life in many wild lands. He once accessed primeval forests in northern Africa to record the sounds of the jungle, the wolf howling in a wild cold forest late at night. On other trips, he recorded the sounds of the lakes in the middle of a vast forest and the crashing waves of the Pacific, the Arctic cold winds and icebergs, and hot sand of some deserts.

In 1981, Gison, in cooperation with other artists, such as Micheal Maxwell, Ron Allen, and John Herberman, made up Solitudes, a brand focused on producing New Age works. At a rough estimate, Solitudes has released 150 albums. Their music arouses every senses of human and takes listeners to very distant lands of the world.

Listening to the album Guardians of Atlantis by Dan Gison and Micheal Maxwell on severely hot summer days will make us feel the huge cool waves rising in the Atlantic Ocean, as if we were lying beneath the waves, taking a trip to the ocean floor, by chance coming into the kingdom of the dolphin, and relaxing with the infinite freedom of the ocean life.

The album Journey with the Whales by Dan Gison and composer John Allen takes part in the sounds of the dolphins leaping out of water then diving deep into the seabed, where we can hear tender melodies and great songs of the sea and find an interesting conversation between music and the ocean’s sounds. Forest Piano is the album of the sounds of  leaves rustling in primeval forests; the piano melodies will leave us in a vast space under the moonlight, feeling the ground, air and clouds.

In Việt Nam, some composers also participate in the New Age trend. Composer Võ Thiện Thanh released the album Kiss of the Sea in 2009 with some natural sounds used in a prelude or as a song’s theme. The music of this album is basically electronic music mixed with the sounds of ocean waves, wind, and other forces of nature. 

Since ancient times, humans have lived close to nature, thus making art works inspired by nature components. Music producers and composers apply natural sounds in different creative ways to their works, making them sound interesting. Nature is always a generous inspiration for artworks, including musical pieces. The songs composed of natural sounds with good mixing and arrangement are really good products for life. It is also the two-way interaction between human spirit and nature. Furthermore, artworks inspired by nature send meaningful messages that boost people’s love for nature and encourage them to protect it and life on earth.

Hanoi, September 17, 2015