Beneath the Horizon III
Priscilla McLean
About this work:
Who is to say that the only great music can come from humans? As more is learned about our rivals in intelligence - the whales - , the concept of “cultural superiority” comes under fire. The combining of recorded whale songs and composed music for tuba solo (“Beneath the Horizon III”) and tuba quartet (“Beneath the Horizon I”) is an attempt to illustrate the similarity of our (humans’ and whales’) musical ideas, and to create a special ethereal environment, projecting and blending the haunting qualities, often symbiotic and sometimes contrasting, of both musics. For this reason, the whale songs are preserved as much as possible. Manipulation, when used, has involved lowering the songs by an octave, at times, into human singing range, overlayng several songs to create “choirs”, and “cleaning up” the sounds from the recordings Songs of the Humpbacked Whale” and “Deep Voices” (Capitol Records, ST-620 and ST-11598) by eliminating distortions, pops, and sea hiss.
It may surprise the listener to hear conventional trills and repetitions, discernible melodies. This is the way of the whales’ musical minds, and the echoey medium of the ocean, not so different from the tiny humans performing with them. At the beginning of the work the tuba and whales are so integrated that they cannot be distinguished apart, then both gradually evolve into separate sonorities. This style is heard throughout, emerging and receding into the soundbed of ocean. A DVD of whales has been created to accompany the performance (optional).
Version: Solo Tuba and Tape
Year composed: 1979
Duration: 00:13:30
Ensemble type: Solo instrument, non-keyboard:Tuba
Instrumentation:
Instrumentation notes: Tubist performs with stopwatch, and optionally DVD.