Removing notes from Mendelssohn overture shows plight of humpback whales

The Hebrides was inspired by the composer's trip to Britain. A Cambridge economist and a composer collaborated to use sound to call attention to the loss of biodiversity. The notes from the 10- to 11-minute overture were removed in proportion to the decline in whale populations. As part of the Zero Climate Change Festival, a short film about the project was released today.

Over the last century, nearly a million species have been pushed to the brink of extinction. The message isn't landing for researchers who have been sounding the alarm for a long time. Scientific papers can't grab people's attention in the way that music can.

The Philharmonic Society invited him to visit England and Scotland. He wrote down the opening theme that came to him after he toured the cave. The cave's beauty is evoked by the use of violas, cellos, and bassoons in the opening notes.

The first performance of the piece took place in Berlin. It's considered to be one of his best compositions. Johannes Brahms once said, "I would be happy to give all I have written to have composed something like the Hebrides Overture."

About 30,000 notes in the original score correspond to the number of whales that populated the oceans in the 18th century. The whaling industry reduced their numbers to the point that they were on the verge of extinction. Commercial whaling was banned by the International Whaling Commission in the 1960s in order to protect the Humpback whales.

Hebrides Redacted score with notes scrubbed out to reflect declining humpback whale population. This segment corresponds to 1890, when 60 percent of whales remained.">

Around 135,000 whales call the North Atlantic home, making it the home of the species. They still face threats like getting entangled in fishing gear, as well as the destruction of their coastal habitats due to climate change.

They decided to build Hebrides Redacted around the plight of those creatures because they thought it was likely that Mendelssohn would have seen at least two whales. Campbell divided the score into sections and took notes on how the whale populations changed over time. The piece allows for an 8 percent increase in whale populations in the future.

The score is thin and fragmented, with isolated notes reaching for a tune that is only partially present. Even in the face of devastating destruction, nature is always beautiful and even when two-thirds of the music is missing there is still a delicate beauty. "Redaction" is a word that is associated with suppression of history. I think it's appropriate for this piece of music. Humans have silenced nature.

Hebrides Redacted received a standing ovation when it was performed by a 38 piece orchestra at the August Wilderness Festival.