Humans & Whales

First recorded by accident in the early twentieth century by a U.S. Navy installation, and later popularized through Roger Payne’s album Songs of the Humpback Whale in 1970 (history’s most popular nature recording), whale’s songs brought about a dramatic reimagination of whale-human relations. Since then, musicians have interacted with whales by incorporating their song into art music, bringing humpback songs into concert halls and worldwide tours. Shortly after people heard them sing, a global outcry led by the NGO Save the Whales emerged, resulting in a ten-year moratorium on commercial whaling, which led in 1986 to worldwide ban (with the exclusion of Norway, Japan, and Island). Thus, humpbacks’ cultural complexity had tremendous political power and inspired a new relationship of care towards whales and the ocean.

In this chapter I analyze John Tavener’s 1965 dramatic cantata The Whale – where the whale is ominously silent – and compare it with Alan Hovhaness’s symphonic poem And God Created Great Whales premiered in 1970. While the lived experience of humans takes center stage in Taverner’s piece, Hovhaness gives whales the prominent role of soloists and constructs the piece in service of their singing. In 1971, George Crumb’s “Vox Balaenae” was premiered and is yet another attempt to decenter humans making whales and their sonorities protagonists on stage. These attempts continue in the twenty-first century, for example, through the work of composer Emily Doolittle, and her 2006 composition “Social Sounds from Whales at Night.” Popular musicians also played a significant role in the widespread of humpback songs, writing music to foster a newfound commitment to whales. Among them stand out Judy Collins, Pete Seeger, Paul Winter, and Kate Bush. The associations between whales and culture as fostered by these musicians, arguably had an important role in stirring large numbers of people to act and demand a change in how oceans and marine mammals are valued and protected.