Ballade pour trois baleines (1970)

Ti­tle of the album: Le chant des baleines
Ti­tle: Ballade pour trois baleines (Track 05)
La­bel: Capitol Records
Da­te: 1970
Me­di­um: re­cord 30 cm

The release of the LP Le chant des baleines brought both the whale research couple Roger and Katy Payne to public attention, as well as their commitment to protecting whales from commercial whaling. The pieces are recordings of male humpback whales singing during the mating season. Roger and Katy Payne researched the systematics and methodology of whale songs and made groundbreaking discoveries. The publication of the research results, combined with a piece of the whales' "personality" in the form of the LP, reached and moved many people. The initiative made a decisive contribution to bringing the protection of whales and the oceans as a natural habitat and important component for life on earth into the public focus.

Katy Payne's choice of pieces for Le chant des baleines is not only a scientific, documentary approach but also a musical one. The pieces have a tonal harmony, a certain rhythm and a compositional component of singing and background noise. This is also expressed in the title of the piece heard here: Ballade pour trois baleines - Ballade for Three Whales represents a shift from science to the world of music.

PS