the nature of inspiration

being out in 'nature' has been an inspirational magnet for many artists, writers, musicians.  This idea really started to catch on from the mid 1800's -  (in europe, and the US), where the perception of nature was evolving from something one had to go thru to get to their destination -  to Becoming the destination itself.  Messiaen  (composer with interest in Christian mysticism) came to the US to listen to the bird songs of Zion nat'l park.  Gauguin went to Tahiti,  http://pixels.com/featured/eiaha-ohipa-or-tahitians-in-a-room-paul-gauguin.html and left Paris behind.  Rousseau http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/WLA_moma_Henri_Rousseau_The_Dream.jpg  tried to take credit for the 'primitivism' movement exploding in paris, where Picasso , http://www.google.com/imgres?imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbysuchandsuch.com%2Fcategory%2Fliterature%2F&tbn...Miro, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/The_Sorrows_of_the_King.jpg  among others, were fascinated with the deep roots of the artistic impulse - as reflected in the art of 'primitive' cultures.  The Rite of Spring - (composed in 1912) Stravinsky is also a testament to it's influence.  Strangely, 'Afternoon of a Faun' (composed in 1894) expresses an intoxication with nature, (though without the sharp corners of the primitivist movement).  Later, Stravinsky would give up his heavier set model - and opt for a more transparent (lighter) model, -- closer to  Debussy and Ravel, who had arrived on the scene a couple of decades earlier.    This was also the era of Freud (and the bestial, 'id') and the meaning of the murky world of dreams and of the unconscious- of which nature stands as the perfect symbol.  ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. sometimes, the public wasn't always too enthusiastic, though.  here's an account of the premiere of 'the rite of spring' in paris- 1913:    "The tumult began not long after the ballet's opening notes — a meandering and eerily high-pitched bassoon solo that elicited laughter and derision from many in the audience. The jeers became louder as the orchestra progressed into more cacophonous territory, with its pounding percussion and jarring rhythms escalating in tandem with the tensions inside the recently opened Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.  Things reached a near-fever pitch by the time the dancers took the stage, under the direction of famed choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky of the Ballets Russes. Dressed in whimsical costumes, the dancers performed bizarre and violent moves, eschewing grace and fluidity for convulsive jerks that mirrored the work’s strange narrative of pagan sacrifice. Onstage in Paris, the crowd's catcalls became so loud that the ballerinas could no longer hear the orchestra, forcing Nijinsky to shout out commands from backstage.  A scuffle eventually broke out between two factions in the audience, and the orchestra soon found itself under siege, as angry Parisians hurled vegetables and other objects toward the stage. It's not clear whether the police were ever dispatched to the theater, though 40 people were reportedly ejected. Remarkably, the performance continued to completion, though the fallout was swift and brutal".   //  It's premiere, at the Théâtre de Champs-Elysées on May 29, 1913, conducted by Pierre Monteux, caused a scandal. ///.……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Although, nature had played a role in the arts before this era, it was more symbolic  than  'visceral'.  Of course there are forerunners:   "forest mummers" - Wagner, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08vTtu4pmjk  the nocturnes of Chopin,  cuckoo bird in Beethoven's 6th, Fingal's cave - Mendelssohn,  Night on Bald Mountain -Mussorgsky, …. etc…  but when we go back as far as Handel, his 'Water Music' doesn't 'sound' like water…. like we hear in Ravel's 'Water Fountains'.