Sir David Attenborough and Björk in music documentary

3 August 2012, 14:37

‘The Nature of Music’ explores the link between sounds in the natural world and the sounds we recognise as music today, with the help of the Icelandic pop star and Britain’s best-known naturalist.

Sir David Attenborough is teaming up with eccentric Icelandic pop star Björk for a new Channel 4 documentary exploring the links between nature and music. Nature-lovers can also expect footage of animals, songbirds, and even blue whales.

The Nature of Music, directed by Louise Hooper, will explore how humans engage with music, and how it evolved from sounds in the natural world. Sir David says it's to do with the evolution of the human larynx.

“Mother Nature doesn’t produce all the specialist organs for no reason at all, so there’s every reason to suppose that music, and complicated singing, came before speech,” he said.

Sir David will discuss his love of music, stemming from his early childhood when he used to play reductions of Beethoven’s symphonies on the piano. Björk will also show her own collection of specially created instruments used on her album, Biophilia.

You can listen to Classic FM’s interview with Sir David Attenborough below.

Sir David Attenborough October 2011