Word: whaled
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...Whales are extraordinary animals. Besides being the largest creatures on this planet, they apparently possess a sense of humor, a reasonably well-developed conversational skill, and an inordinate amount of musical ability. According to an accumulation of scientific findings, they lumber through the oceans bellowing raga-like compositions of extraordinary length and complexity. On the other hand, whale intelligence may leave something to be desired, for they seem about to embark on a career in the music business. Humpback whales have just made a record. And last week whales were performing with the New York Philharmonic in a new work...
...eerie whale songs *seemed a natural complement to the otherworldly, mystical music of Hovhaness. He is one of the few composers today who has a distinctive, instantly identifiable style. His compositions stick to conservative harmonies, relying heavily on ostinato, and reveling in lush, big-scale orchestration. They are immensely colorful and oddly moving. And God Created Great Whales began with muttering string noises and a submarine roar on the drums, followed by leviathan trombones diving in and out of rushing violins. Finally the great cetaceans themselves appeared, via tape recording. They sang with an astounding range of tone and expressiveness...
...Hovhaness and for Conductor Andre Kostelanetz, who had conceived the collaboration, the performance had ecological as well as musical overtones. Though whales furnish no products that cannot be found elsewhere or duplicated synthetically, the animals are still being slaughtered at the rate of more than 50,000 each year, mostly by Japan and the Soviet Union. Kostelanetz first got the idea for the composition by listening to Songs of the Humpback Whale, a recent recording made by Rockefeller University Biologist Dr. Roger Payne and Acoustics Engineer Frank Watlington of Columbia University, and issued by Communications Research Machines...
...mammals, reptiles and fish that ran afoul of the iron laws of evolution and natural disaster, and are now extinct. But the most devastating killer has been man. Since 1600, when the first precise records were compiled, man has butchered creatures ranging from the abalone to the blue whale and the zebra. "During the past 150 years," says Ecologist Lee M. Talbot of the Smithsonian Institution, "the rate of extermination of mammals has increased 55-fold. If the killing goes on at this pace, in about 30 years all of the remaining 4,062 species of mammals will be gone...
...wanted to see something intense, something grandiose and mighty. I wanted to see a giant squid and a sperm whale battle chthonically and monumentally for the dominion of the oceans. The whale and squid engage and storm, the water froths and crupts in thundering contest-the spectators are driven back in awe and terror-the whale blasts away the roof, the squid uproots the Tank itself-the whale leaps up and down like a diving world, stunning the horrendous squid, who tires, submits, and is vanquished! In celebration of his victory the whale cannons his ghastly ordinance over...