How the Discovery of Whale Songs Inspired an Environmental Commitment to the Ocean
An ELEMENTS talk with Marie Comuzzo (Brandeis University)
Friday Sept. 27, 2024 @ 4:30PM
Kinney Center (UMass), 650 E. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01002
This talk centers on the transformational process that musicoscientists Roger and Katy Payne initiated when they heard humpback whales' vocalizations as song, and the rippling effect that their 1970 album Sounds of the Humpback Whales had on the environmental efforts to end whaling. Through an exploration of this album and the works of George Crumb, Emily Doolittle, Alan Hovhaness, and John Tavener – composers who deeply listened to whales in real and imaginative ways – this talk reflects on how hearing, listening, and composing alongside whales, led to a dramatic transformation in the perception of the ocean, from an aphonic space to a rich, dynamic, and musical sonic environment.
This event might be of particular interest to anyone who was able to attend last week's re-opening of the exhibit by Courtney M. Leonard (BREACH: LOGBOOK 24 | STACCATO) and the UMass faculty performances of music by George Crumb (Vox Balaenae [Voice of the Whale]), Toru Takemitsu (Towards the Sea), Russell Wharton (Phylogenesis), Angelica Negron (Espacios, objetos, sonidos y tiempo), and Luigi Nono (...sofferte onde serene...). The exhibit is showing until 12/6.
Kinney Center: Renaissance of the Earth project
