Composer, author, teacher, and pioneer of acoustic ecology R. Murray Shafer has passed away (CBC), NYT.
R. Murray Schafer tirelessly worked to encourage careful and attentive listening. He explored the sociological, cultural, and even mythological resonances of sound, especially emphasizing our severance from natural or well-organized soundscapes by the ceaseless increase of noise pollution.
He founded the the World Soundscape Project in 1969 at Simon Fraser University, and wrote the founding book on acoustic ecology: “The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World“. And, of course, he composed a wide variety of music in many genres.
A short film from the National Film Board of Canada gives a brief introduction to his ideas: Listen