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Talk2016

Canaries, Nightingales, Whistlers & Transcribers: Birdsong, Bird-Imitators & the Early 20th-Century Recording Industry

American Folklife Center

At the Library of Congress

Clips are not offered for this film: the Library of Congress states its rights in its own words, not as a public licence, which leaves reuse unclear.

About

Ian Nagoski drew examples of rare early recordings from his recent digital release "Ecstatic & Wingless: Bird-Imitation on Four Continents, ca. 1910-44" to explore this forgotten art form and illuminate the world of vaudevillians and bird-fanciers, of canaries, nightingales, finches, and the people who studied them, poeticized them, and tried to be them. Humans have always been fascinated by birds and charmed by their songs. Caged songbirds and human imitations of birdsong date back millennia. In the early 20th century, the fledgling recording industry began to release records featuring birdsongs: both actual recordings of caged birds and humans imitating birds in styles that ranged from straightforward birdcalls to vaudeville-style schlock to virtuoso performances. During the 1910s and 1920s, the art and performance of bird-imitations produced amazing and eccentric celebrities; by 1925, commercial recordings of bird imitators had been released on six continents.

Human-made No record of this work says a model made it. What this means.

Archive
Library of Congress, in Library of Congress: talks and concerts
Licence or status
Rights statement at the Library of Congress, as the Library of Congress states it.
Credit
Library of Congress
Language
English
Country
United States
Who can watch
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