David Rothenberg – The Whale Song

 

David Rothenberg studied the sound of killer whales in his work "The Whales Song". As he mentions, whales are also the first animals that scientists have tried to prove have a culture. Another reason for him to investigate the sounds of a whale.

"Whales Song" begins with a harmonious and peaceful sound that he backs with his saxophone to imitate the sound of a whale. Throughout the piece, he plays recordings of whales, and each time the whales make a louder sound, he backs it up with a more powerful saxophone sound. The use of the saxophone gives the piece a slight touch of a jazz number. It must be mentioned that Rothenberg himself is a passionate jazz musician. In general, he works a lot with animal sounds, such as birds, in his works.

 

The sounds of the whales are usually deeper and sometimes sound very sad, if you can put it that way. In the middle part of the piece, the sounds of the whales get louder and sound like a loud "aaahh" of a human being. At the same time, he once again emphasizes the sounds of the whales with his saxophone, reproducing the emotions with his instrument. Towards the end, the sounds become softer again and seem sadder, which can also be seen in the way he plays.

I personally found the use of the saxophone beneficial in that I could better identify and possibly match the sounds of the whales. In my opinion, he uses his instrument to reproduce the emotions he himself feels when listening to the whale sounds and to make them more tangible to the human ear.