Classical music and Creation

For years, I was a cellist, and was a member of orchestra at school as well as groups such as Tulsa Youth Symphony. I even played in college with a music scholarship. Many "classical" composers have written pieces that were inspired by the natual world, and enjoying these pieces can help deepen our appreciation about nature.

Brian Wise, at WQXR, has put together an interesting piece for Earth Day 2015 about how the natural world influenced four great composers: Vivaldi, Wagner, Debussy, and Copland. Here's an excerpt:

Readers of musical biographies know that many composers have beenpassionate lovers of nature. Beethoven confessed that he often preferred the company of a tree to that of a man, and some of his best ideas came to him on his daily outdoor walks (the "Pastoral" Symphony among them). Mozart composed everywhere from a stage-coach to a workroom but his favorite workspace was an open garden. 

Some composers traveled to find inspiration. Felix Mendelssohn visited the island of Staffa on Scotland's west coast before writing the concert overture The Hebrides (also known as Fingal's Cave). Olivier Messiaen dropped by Bryce Canyon in Utah before composing Des canyons aux étoiles... Charles Ives paid homage to natural settings in his native Connecticut for Three Places in New England. 

Other composers have taken stances on issues of ecology and the environment. John Luther Adams won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for his work Become Ocean, a piece about rising sea levels brought on by climate change, and several of his earlier works evoke the landscapes of his home in Alaska. But just how closely do composers do their homework before setting pen to paper?

Look to the post above for my suggestions for a playlist (mixtape if you're old school) for those seeking classical inspiration.