Music, Ecology, and Atmosphere

Abstract

Abstract The chapter discusses music as atmosphere that communicates collective environmental feelings. The focus is on contemporary classical music and its emerging ecocritical trend. Compositions representing this trend draw significantly on the atmospheric dimensions of music, such as pre-reflective affectivity and shared emotional experiences. Works by Finnish composers Cecilia Damström and Outi Tarkiainen are analyzed as examples of atmospheric aesthetics, which underlines the role of collective experiences in our relationship with the natural environment. These compositions also illuminate how the ecocritical trend in classical music is often concordant with intersectional feminism and societal activism. This relates to the crisis of classical music in the twenty-first century, when the long-standing discriminatory practices of the classical music culture have been challenged by a new awareness about social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Methodologically, the chapter combines ecocritical music analysis with phenomenological atmospherology.