Musicians have long tried to incorporate the sounds of nature into their compositions. Think of Olivier Messiaen or Ottorino Respighi transcribing birdsong and arranging it for orchestra, George Crumb’s whale music, the percussionists of the Congo basin, making complex polyrhythms from splashing river surfaces, or Trilok Gurtu immersing his drums and cymbals into buckets of water.
Composer Nina Corti, AKA QOA, is the latest musician to work in this area. Based in Buenos Aires, she makes electro-acoustic music inspired by the flora and fauna of her native Argentina – the album takes its name from the Spanish word for elderberries, and there are tracks named after breeds of butterfly, native herbs, marsh deer, lichen, fungi and a variety of honey from the Misiones region.
