cetacean songs (2023)

Instrumentations:
2/picc.2.2/bcl.2
4.2.2.1 timp+1
hp solo vc str

OR

1/picc.1.1.1 1.1 perc
solo vc str

Duration: ca. 16’

Whalesong is remarkably sophisticated. Its patterns of repetition and variation mirror structures found in human music; its geographical diversity suggests distinct, yet overlapping, dialects and cultures; it exhibits hallmarks of language, including grammar and syntax––we just don’t understand what whales are saying (yet).

cetacean songs is a meditation on the complex beauty of marine mammal vocalisations, and in extension, a meditation on how vast our oceans are, and how little we know about these underwater worlds and their inhabitants.

Upcoming Performances:

Appleton, WI: Fox Valley Symphony [Kevin Sütterlin]