Between Szőke’s Sound Microscope and Messiaen’s Organ: The cultural realities of blackcap song

Abstract

The song of the blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) has been a subject of fascination among Europeans for centuries. In the first half of the article, I present factors that influenced the evaluation of the bird’s song between the seventeenth and early twentieth centuries, and dedicate the second half to developments in the past sixty years. In the 1950s, two mutually exclusive interpretations of the bird’s song appeared: one connected to Péter Szőke and his sound microscope and the other to Olivier Messiaen and his organ. I draw a parallel between this duality and the ‘sound-based’–‘note-based’ dichotomy that has been naturalised in the discourse about sonic culture during the last decade. I examine what this dichotomy and the natural experience of the blackcap’s song can reveal about one other, shedding light on what may be viewed as the most influential source for this centuries-long fascination.