Whalefall by Jennifer Wright

"Whalefall"
for solo piano & fixed media
by Jennifer Wright
I. Weightless in the Teeming Void / Fall
II. Wayfinder-Scavengers / Little Colonists
III. Strange Processes / Song of the Spirit
Filmed live at “Burn After Listening: Fire + Ice”
April 2017
at PLACE, Portland, Oregon
Jennifer Wright, piano & fixed media
; Jordie Campbell, choreography & aerial silks performance
Notes:
When a whale dies, its massive body sinks to the deep sea floor and comes to rest in a breathless landscape devoid of light and oxygen. In this deeply cold, alien environment, the process of its dissolution may take up to 100 years, longer even than the creature lived.
As it is consumed, this tremendous nutrient source supports a complex, highly specialized ecosystem of strange, wondrous, and often phosphorescent life forms. Many of these remarkable creatures live only on whalefalls, drifting through the vast oceans from one fallen behemoth to another.
So, too, drift the hidden legacies we leave behind us. The ripples that flow from our passing may enrich and impact the world and others in ways we cannot even imagine, much as a living whale knows nothing of the miraculous multitudes that its body will host after it has passed. It reminds us of the incredible sacredness of life, and that our transformation back to pure energy can be a change of great beauty.
In “Whalefall,” the piano undergoes a similar transformation. Leaving the keys and traditional playing techniques behind, it sings with unusual voices, wrapped in a wondrous cacophony created from the voices of underwater creatures - many of which do not sound at all like you would imagine them to.
Jennifer Wright

[@matiasbrecher9093]

Wow. So powerful and emotional. Really a moving experience. Thank you

[@jenniferawright]

Thank you for watching, Matias Brecher! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

[@cariecat]

thank you! amazing and so creative! how to make a piano sound like the underwater eternal rest of a behemoth? jennifer wright! 🎹🐋 and wonderful jordie campbell: strength, skills and breathtaking beauty!💝🏊‍♀

[@jenniferawright]

Thank you, Cariecat! :)