Peter Rolufs, our friend in Tokyo, writes to propose, only half in jest, that an American orchestra commission an Ivory-billed Woodpecker Symphony. He sends a link to the captivating song of the Ivory-bill, which starts off sounding a bit like Giacinto Scelsi and then morphs into pure Louis Armstrong.
By way of addendum, Benjamin Weiss of Cambridge, MA writes: "As it happens, there already is a piece built around a recording of the song of the Ivory-bill Woodpecker. Lee Hyla's 'Wilson's Ivory-bill,' for baritone, piano, and tape, intersperses the recording, original composition, and bits of text from Alexander Wilson's American Ornithology, in which Wilson discusses the havoc wreaked on his hotel room by a captive Ivory-bill." Did not know. You can hear the piece here.
