Music of Animals

Music of Animals

by Milton Mermikides

Humanities, Social Sciences & Thought Arts & Architecture AVMusicAVATheory of music and musicology
🎙 Milton Mermikides 👥 450K 📅 November 14, 2025 ⏱ 51 min 👁 5K 📄 lecture 🧭 2026-08-06
Available in: English (current) Français

Keywords

musicanimalsbirdsongMessiaenwhale songs

Summary

In this lecture, Milton Mermikides explores the deep connections between animal sounds and human music. He begins by citing Lucretius, who suggested that birds taught humans to sing. He then traces animal inspiration in ancient instruments like the guqin, where finger techniques were described using animal imagery. Moving to modern music, he shows how the Texas shuffle rhythm mimics a horse’s gait, and how Van Halen imitated elephant sounds on guitar. Saint-Saëns’s ‘Carnival of the Animals’ is analyzed as a musical mapping of animal characteristics. The lecture highlights how insects’ movements have been translated into music, as in Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’. Birdsong is presented as the most influential animal music, with examples from Beethoven and Messiaen, who transcribed bird calls into piano pieces. Mermikides demonstrates how slowing down bird recordings reveals hidden melodies, and he discusses animal sounds beyond human hearing, such as elephant infrasound and bat ultrasound. He also addresses whether animals feel music, citing studies on rhythmic entrainment, including Snowball the dancing cockatoo. The lecture concludes with whale songs and the idea that DNA itself is a musical composition.

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Critical Evaluation

The lecture offers a rich and engaging exploration of the intersection between animal behavior and music, drawing on historical references, musical analysis, and scientific studies. Mermikides demonstrates deep expertise in both music theory and zoology, providing concrete examples that illustrate his points. The argumentation is generally solid, though some claims are presented without explicit citations, which slightly weakens the scientific rigor. For instance, while he mentions studies on animal rhythm perception, he does not provide specific references. The use of musical demonstrations is effective in making the concepts accessible, and the integration of Messiaen’s work is particularly compelling. The lecture is well-structured, moving from ancient instruments to contemporary compositions, and it successfully challenges the notion that music is uniquely human. However, the lecture could benefit from more critical engagement with the definition of music and the potential anthropomorphism in attributing musicality to animals. The title accurately reflects the content, and the lecture is suitable for a general audience with an interest in music and nature. Overall, it is a valuable contribution that bridges the arts and sciences, though it would be enhanced by more rigorous sourcing.

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Title / Content Match

The title accurately reflects the content, which explores the relationship between animals and music.

Quality & Reliability

8/10

The lecture is delivered by an academic expert (Milton Mermikides, PhD) and draws on historical references, musical analysis, and scientific studies. It is well-structured and provides concrete examples, though some claims are presented without explicit citations.

Chapters

Cited Sources

  • Gresham College - Music of Animals — Official page for the lecture, providing additional resources and information.
  • Q&A Session — Follow-up Q&A session related to the lecture.
  • Gresham College on Bluesky — Social media channel for Gresham College, where updates and discussions are shared.
  • Gresham College Website — Main website of Gresham College, offering lectures and educational resources.

Concurring Sources

  • Gresham College - Music of Animals — Official page for the lecture, providing additional resources and information.

Contribution & Novelties

The lecture provides a comprehensive overview of the relationship between animal sounds and music, synthesizing historical, musicological, and scientific perspectives. It offers original musical demonstrations, such as the transcription of bird calls and the mapping of animal movements to musical parameters. The discussion of hidden melodies in bird songs and the use of technology to reveal them is particularly novel.

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Radar Profile

The radar profile shows high scores in quantity and quality of information, with a strong technical level and good reliability. The lecture is rich in content and well-presented, though it could benefit from more explicit citations to enhance its scientific rigor.

Reliability 8/10