Songs of the Humpback Whale

By Anonymous -
     In A Natural History of the Senses, Diane Ackerman discusses each of the senses in great detail. In the section on hearing she describes the ocean as looking "mute, but is alive with sounds from animals, breaking waves, tidal scouring, ship traffic, and nomadic storms, locked within the atmosphere of water as our sounds are within the atmosphere of air" (198). One sound that she illustrates is the song of the humpback whale, specifically mentioning Roger Payne (a whale and environmental activist) and Alan Hovhaness (a composer) who incorporated whale songs into music to create a connection between humans and the whale.
    Alan Hovhaness composed "And God Created Great Whales", a composition that both incorporates and mimics the mating song of the whale. Hovhaness not only uses the strings, horns, and drums to imitate the piecing squeaks, elongated humming, and low raking-rumbling of the whale song, but also uses the instruments to express the majesty and grandeur of the creature that is the Humpback whale as it glides its way through the vast ocean.
    Roger Payne sought out to record the songs of the Humpback in and effort to expose the beauty of the whale to public. He wanted to create an awareness and a connection between humans and the Humpback in order to stop the whaling that was significantly depleting the whale population. He goes into detail about how the whale's song is so similar to our type of song, and if sped up sounds like a bird song.
   I found the discussion on whale songs fascinating. As a singer I have a strong connection to music and song. Though I would not normally listen to music like Hovhaness composition, it was very interesting to analyze it as a musical interpretation of a creature by incorporating the natural music of the creature itself. I am also very interested in the mechanics behind the whale singing under water.  Seeing as how human sing by pushing air through out vocal chords to create the vibration, I am curious as to how whales create that vibration.

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