While I wandered the dreamy quiet of St. Marx Friedhof, it was the Requiem that swirled through my head. But when I set my chestnut on the gray concrete that had to stand in for Star’s tiny, forgotten grave, it was the wild, swirling cadenzas from A Musical Joke that filled my mind and heart. Even more than his poem, this flight of musical fancy was Mozart’s truest elegy for his small friend, the commonest of birds who could never have known that he was joining with a musical genius in the highest purpose of creative life: to disturb us out of complacency; to show us the wild, imperfect, murmuring harmony of the world we inhabit; to draw our own lives into the song.
Coda
One of the queries I get frequently from friends is what I will “do with Carmen” now that I’ve finished this book. The answer seems obvious to me. Carmen is a member of my household, and I will look after her as long as she lives. There is no telling how long that will be. A good age for a wild starling is six years or so, but captive birds can die young from some wisp of a draft or live for fifteen years and more. If for some reason I arrive at a place in my life where I cannot keep her, then I will find a home where she will be welcomed with delight. But I’ll offer one last thought: Carmen brings joy and depth and insight to our family. I believe she has a good life, and I am glad she did not die with her nest mates. But not one single day passes that I do not wish I could see her fly free.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
More than anything else I’ve written, Mozart’s Starling was created in community, beneath a “cloud of witnesses.” I am profoundly grateful to all who nourished this project in so many ways. For the sharing of insight and expertise: the staff at the Stiftung Mozarteum in Salzburg, especially Dr. Ulrich Leisinger; the staff at Mozarthaus in Vienna, particularly Constanze Hell; Speight Jenkins, Seattle Opera director emeritus; Dave Beck of Classical KING FM; Dr. Adela Ramos, Pacific Lutheran University; Dr. Timothy Gentner, UC San Diego; Dr. Meredith West, Indiana University; Dr. David Rothenberg, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Dr. Walter Koenig, Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Dr. Dennis Paulson, University of Puget Sound Slater Museum, emeritus; David Maskowitz, master tracker; Chris Anderson, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Pat Burnett, Edmonds Community College; Samantha Randall; Dr. Christopher Plumb; Dr. Albert Furtwangler; Dell Gossett; Dr. Rob Duisberg; all who contributed their knowledge of the German language; and so many others who assisted along the way. For hospitality: the ever-fabulous Benedictine sisters of St. Placid Priory; Cathy Cowell and all the good people at Whiteley Center, Friday Harbor; Wendy Dion at Yoga Lodge, Whidbey Island; and my lovely Airbnb hosts in Vienna and Salzburg. For writerly commiseration: Maria Dolan, David Laskin, David Williams, Lang Cook, Martha Silano, Susan Tweit, Kathryn True, Anne Linnea, Michelle Goodman, Sage Cohen, Lynda Mapes, Anne Copeland, and all the Seattle7 writers. For more support than I deserve: the Unspeakables. For generous and intelligent professional guidance: my editor, Tracy Behar, at Little, Brown; my literary agent, Elizabeth Wales; and my copyeditors, Tracy Roe and Pamela Marshall. For undertaking the thankless task of long-term Carmen sitting (a favor one could only ask of dear friends): Trileigh Tucker, Mark Ahlness, Janeanne Houston, and Jane Davis. For the sharing of comfort and joy during the winding writing process, thanks to my family: cutest-ever parents, Jerry and Irene Haupt; amazing sister, Kelly Haupt, and sister-in-law, Jill Story; and sweet (because I know they love being called “sweet”) parents-in-law, Ginny and Al Furtwangler. For creative mayhem: Carmen; Delilah; hens Ophelia, Ethel, Winifred, and Pansy (rest in peace, Marigold); and all the more-than-human creatures that crossed my path during the writing of this book. For intrepid spirit: the memory of Idie Ulsh (1936–2015), naturalist-doyenne of the Pacific Northwest, who inspired thousands with her delight in the wild world (Idie, I still want to be you when I grow up). For courage: Rachel Carson, Beatrix Potter, Georgia O’Keeffe, and all the poets, writers, artists, and composers who found their creativity upon the wild earth and whose work visits across time in the form of word, line, song, and sound. And for love: Tom and Claire.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lyanda Lynn Haupt is an ecophilosopher, naturalist, and author of several books, including The Urban Bestiary, Crow Planet, Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent, and Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds. A winner of the Washington State Book Award and the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award, she lives in Seattle with her husband and daughter.
Books by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild
Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness
Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent: The Importance of Everything and Other Lessons from Darwin’s Lost Notebooks
Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds
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* Some suggest that the star part of the name refers to the little white spots that shimmer on the tips of the bird’s black feathers during the nonbreeding season. It is impossible to know the genesis of the name for certain.
* There are exaltations of larks and murders of crows. A flock of flying starlings is called, beautifully, a murmuration, but there is no official name for a terrestrial flock, as far as I know. Plague seems appropriate.
* Pigeons are officially considered feral rather than invasive. Early in this country’s history, rock pigeons (the common urban species) were brought over from England, propagated, kept by settlers, and carried along on journeys west as sources of food. All the urban pigeons we see today are descendants of these pioneer pigeons, many of whom escaped. Their native habitat includes rocky cliffs, and we can imagine them in such places when we see them on high city buildings.
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