Ways of Listening, Figures of Thought: A Festschrift for R. Murray Schafer on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday

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While living in Amherst, MA and traveling in Europe this spring, I co-edited a 72-page book with Sabine Breitsameter, entitled Ways of Listening, Figures of Thought: A Festschrift for R. Murray Schafer On the Occasion of His 80th Birthday. Published in July by Hochschule Darmstadt, the Festschrift collects statements from 25 internationally esteemed authors, composers, and researchers as a tribute to Schafer, the renowned Canadian composer, founder of the World Soundscape Project and the interdisciplinary field of Acoustic Ecology.

At Murray Schafer’s tribute concert and dinner on July 18, Sabine and I presented him with the Festschrift, along with the latest issue of the annual Soundscape: The Journal for Acoustic Ecology, at the 2013 Stratford Summer Music Festival. July 18th is significant as it is both Murray Schafer’s 80th birthday and World Listening Day.

Our 72-page tribute to Murray Schafer was printed in a limited edition of 150 copies, featuring statements by 25 notable, internationally respected writers, designers, scientists, educators, and artists. To receive a copy the WFAE requests a nominal fee to cover its shipping. Please email your request to festschrift@wfae.net.

Ways of Listening, Figures of Thought was made possible through the combined efforts of Sabine Breitsameter, Professor of Sound and Media Culture at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, in collaboration with her students and a North American team of members I coordinated with members of the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology (CASE) and the American Society for Acoustic Ecology (ASAE). I am very grateful to our teams on the European and North American sides of the Atlantic who worked quickly and diligently under a very tight timeline to bring this book into existence.

Product Details

  • Title: Ways of Listening, Figures of Thought: A Festschrift for R. Murray Schafer on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday
  • Paperback: 72 pages
  • Publisher: Dieburg Series on Acoustic Ecology 3, Soundscape & Environmental Medialab/Hochschule Darmstadt (July 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN: 978-3-00-042395-6
  • Dimensions: 0.37 x 5.75 x 8.1 inches (0.5 x 14.5 x 20.5 cm)
  • Shipping Weight: 4.9 ounces (139 grams)
  • Editors: Sabine Breitsameter and Eric Leonardson
  • Foreword: Hildegard Westerkamp
  • WFAE Introductions: Andrea Dancer (CASE/ACÉS), Eric Leonardson (WFAE)
  • Introductory Essay: Sabine Breitsameter (Eng. transl. by Norbert Ruebsaat; orig. publ. Die Ordnung der Klänge [Ger. transl. of Tuning of the World by R. M. Schafer])
  • Contributors: Karl Bartos, Volker Bernius, Barry Blesser, Lidia Camacho, Darren Copeland, Nigel Frayne, Heidi Grundmann & Elisabeth Zimmermann, Christian Huggonet, Helmi Järviluoma, Derrick de Kerckhove, Peter Kiefer, Bernie Krause, Jörg Udo Lensing, Albert Mayr, Marion Saxer, Hans Burkhard Schlichting, Reinhard Strömer, Marisa Trench, David Toop, Keiko Torigoe, Barry Truax, Ellen Waterman, Hans-Ulrich Werner, Tim Wilson, and Justin Winkler.