Music has long been a medium for environmental activism and the efforts of today’s classical artists are no exception. In honor of our cherished home, we have added a selection of pieces from our catalog to this special playlist that highlights the beauty of the Earth and represents what artists are doing to raise environmental awareness.
Listen to the full playlist on your favorite streaming platform today.
Channel Islands Orchestral Suite
Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra
For over 19,000 years, Native Americans called many of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California home before their displacement between the 1500s and 1800s. In the centuries that followed, the islands’ fragile ecosystems were heavily impacted by the efforts of agricultural production during the Western American ranching era.
Today, these lands, cared for by the National Park Service, The Nature Conservancy, Catalina Island Conservancy and the U.S. Navy, stand as sanctuaries of conservation, where countless species of plants and animals exist nowhere else on Earth.
ECHOES OF THE LAND
ECHOES OF THE LAND introduces the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra in works by composers Ashley Hoyer and Bevan Manson, each exploring the character and history of distinct landscapes.
Climate Music
di.vi.sion
Climate Music was commissioned by di.vi.sion as part of a musical examination of a problem that confronts us all: the dangers of global warming, caused in large part by the continued burning of fossil fuel. If we continue on our present path the consequences can be dire. But if we change course we can still contribute to a more positive outcome.
FIVE FOR THE PLANET
Though the looming threat of climate change hangs heavy over the world, the concern hasn’t reached a critical awareness by the general public. On FIVE FOR THE PLANET, Bronx-based ensemble di.vi.sion employs the power of music to get the message across.
Earth Song
Jan Järvlepp
Earth Song by composer Jan Järvlepp is inspired by the 1854 speech delivered by Chief Seattle pleading for cultural and environmental unity. The speech was written by television scriptwriter Ted Perry, who originally wrote it for the 1970 TV film Home, sponsored by the Southern Baptists of Texas.
IN FLANDERS FIELDS
Composer Jan Järvlepp wrested the power of inspiration to compose the works on IN FLANDERS FIELDS, an album of choral pieces sparked by three legendary texts.
Rio Del Tizon
Yu-Hui Chang
As part of the commissioned works of cellist Rhonda Rider’s THE GRAND CANYON PROJECT, composer Yu-Hui Chang’s Rio del Tizon, which means Firebrand River, is an old Spanish name for the lower Colorado River, which carved out The Grand Canyon.
THE GRAND CANYON PROJECT
“In 2010–2011, I had the honor to be named Artist-in-Residence at Grand Canyon National Park,” says cellist Rhonda Rider. “For my residency I asked ten celebrated composers to write pieces inspired by some aspect of Grand Canyon. The result was a group of fantastically imaginative and explorative new works for solo cello. I am indebted to these wonderful composers for the time and talent they have given to this project.”
Auroras
Matthew Burtner
Auroras was commissioned by BBC London for the radio show, “Songs of the Sky,” which first aired on “Between the Ears,” BBC Radio 3. The musical composition uses audio recordings of the northern lights made in Alaska by the composer using VLF sensors to audify the aurora’s electromagnetic energy into electronic sound.
PROFILED FROM ATMOSPHERES
PROFILED FROM ATMOSPHERES is an eerie, haunting sonification that serves as a poignant reminder; if we want to continue hearing the songs of the atmosphere and the planet it blankets, it’s our responsibility to preserve it.