Despite the old saw about critics, writing about music or art is an exercise in translating the untranslateable—conveying the emotional impact while using an alien system. You’re not just describing something; you’re attempting to recreate the experience of encountering it. For Orion, Patrick Madden applies that exercise to a birdcall, and turns it into a lovely meditation on the shortcomings and opportunities of an unfit tool.
The part of this story you’re still missing is some kind of description of the zorzal’s song, some attempt to render what my ears have heard. So far, you’ve got vagaries like “call,” “song,” and “trill,” but these are, after all, just ready-made words. I might be describing any bird, or human, or bagpipes. So let me give it a go. I could say that the sound a zorzal makes is both musically rhythmic and rhythmically defiant. I don’t think it would scan well or fit right on a musical staff. Their song strikes me as joyous, gleeful, proud: a quick pair of galloping triplets, followed by a climbing slur, a sudden double drop, then a legato rising hold and, finally, a lower, unresolved note that leaves me, for one, wanting more. So the bird begins again.
More picks about birds
Rockhopper Penguins’ Athleticism Makes Them the Daredevils of the Animal World. Will a Warming Climate Slow Them Down?
“A visit to the Falkland Islands, where the fearless seabirds navigate the rugged topography with tenacious spunk, shows the new challenges they face.”
Lord God Bird
“Does the ivory-billed woodpecker still exist?”
Plume: A Tale of Murder and Martyrdom in the Everglades
“Guy Bradley gave his life to save South Florida’s tropical birds, becoming one of the environmental movement’s first martyrs.”
She Was a Quiet Bird Expert. Then She Was Called to Investigate a Murder in Maine.
“How a mild-mannered scientist named Roxie Laybourne created the field of forensic ornithology.”
Pity the Barefoot Pigeon
“Bumblefoot, string-foot, and falcons are just a few of the hazards that New York’s birds have to brave.”
Gone in Seven Seconds
“Racing pigeons hightail it home in competitions across the state.”
