Show Notes
From the alien dolphins in "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (so long and thanks for all the fish) to the whale on the cover of the They Might be Giants album "Apollo 18," there are numerous examples of cosmic-dwelling cetaceans in science fiction and other space imaginings. Even more interestingly, these space whales' cosmic nature is often tied to their musical nature. In this episode, we ponder why this may be, and touch on some of our favorite space-whale-music examples. While we leave the details of several whale-themed musical works for other episodes (see references below), we consider instead the affordances and potential pitfalls of hearing whale vocalizations as music.
References Roger Payne, Songs of the Humpback Whale Roger Payne National Geographic flexidisc Alan Hovhaness, “And God Created Great Whales” George Crumb, “Vox Balaenae” Star Trek: The Voyage Home Fantasia 2000 Respighi “Pines of Rome” recording was by Pierre Monteaux and the Orchestre National de France, available at IMSLP Alexander Rehding and Daniel Chua, Alien Listening
More from Cosmophonia
How does one with a penchant for cutting-edge electronic music, West-coast jazz, and lunar fantasies find relaxation in 1947? Why, with Les Baxter's Music Out of the Moon: Music Unusual Featuring the Theremin, of course! We take on this landmark album, which set the stage for exotica and lounge music in subsequent decades while ensuring visions of outer space remained an integral component of these fascinating genres. But it's more than that: Baxter's imaginings engage with a vast array of space music tropes, all at prior to the launch of Sputnik! This puts his music at the intersection of old and new trends, which yields some truly captivating results.
On Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse will sweep across much of North America, within view of millions of people. Most excitingly, the path of totality is coming by Bloomington, Indiana, current home of Cosmophonia! Your hosts have been involved in several music-space events in town, including our very own recital, where we have programmed a number of excellent on-topic pieces. The piece we discuss on this episode is the proverbial one that got away - Stuart Saunders Smith's "The Narrow Path" for two vibraphone players and one orchestral bells (or glockenspiel) player. While our conversation occasionally strays off the "narrow path," we keep coming back to why this piece is a compelling reminder of eclipses and space more generally, including issues of alignment and the twinkly sounds of metallophones.
Probably the most well-known piece of space themed classical music is Gustav Holst's The Planets. In this episode, we focus on the last movement of the suite, "Neptune," discussing how the timbre and harmony create its signature icy, watery, mysterious soundscape. The suite was completed in 1918, but while selected movements were performed several times in the following years, it did not receive its full premiere with the "Neptune" movement until 1920. Despite the movement being an unusual choice for a finale, it was and still is extremely effective. We also discuss how the astrological inspiration for the suite led Holst to order the movements in the way that he did.
In this new series, Uncharted Cosmophony, we choose a random, previously unknown to us album that seems to have some spacey elements, listen to it, and then talk about it. This time we chose the 1973 record "Intergalactic Trot" by Stardrive with Robert Mason. The album prominently shows off the capabilities of an early multi-voiced synthesizer, backed by a full band, but unlike ambient "space" music is energetic and driven. Our conversation moves in interesting directions, including how the blending of technology and pastoral musical topics can be used to depict an alien landscape.
Sonification is when scientific data is "visualized" or communicated through non-verbal sound. In this episode we discuss the affordances (and some cautions) of sonification in science and science communication as well as in musical compositions. The practice of sonification, especially of astronomical data, brings together aesthetic and objective representations of the universe in a way that can be seen as hearkening back to the tradition of the Quadrivium.