Music of Alan Hovhaness And God Created Whales e.a.w. (1989)

(...) We start with one of "Hovhaness's most celebrated works: And God Created Great Whales (1970). This mixes the taped sounds of the 'song' of various species of whale (there is a scholarly introduction from Peter Christ indicating the source of the various recordings and the species of whales) with a mystical score calling up the wash and depth of an imagined Eastern sea. There are some conceptual parallels here with the taped birdsong in Einojuhani Rautavaara's Cantus Arcticus. This is a powerful amalgam and made extremely moving in the counterpoint between the whale song and Hovhaness's inspired music. It also includes, towards the end, one of Hovhaness's most inspired melodies. (...) Yet another success story in the Hovhaness/Crystal series." (Rob Barnett, musicweb-international.com)