Extinction Events - Clarinet Quartet - Mvt 3 - Walrus Jump by John Gibson Clarinet Quartet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.581936

Extinction Events (3rd movement - Walrus Jump by John Gibson was written as a submission to the International Clarinet Association's 2018 Composition Competition. Written for 3 Bb clarinets and 1 bass clarinet, it is a four movement work for very advanced players. This is the third movement only...the others may be purchased separately: Buzzy Delights, It Isn't Easy Being a Cuckoo, and Yaguarete Surprise (Argentine Jaguar). The entire set of 4 movements may also be purchased. Simply type "extinction events Gibson" in the search bar at the top.

You can watch a You Tube video at https://youtu.be/zdxKbnvD6iI 

Each movement imagines a different animal or insect living in its habitat as it gradually deteriorates. One might think this would be sad, violent music, but each earthly creature is shown in its musical habitat where it happily does what it does best....bees buzzing around flowers, cuckoos gently calling in the forest, Walruses jumping not so gracefully onto sea ice, Jaguars quietly stalking their prey. The habitat changes are depicted by gradual use of unstable scales, and the sometimes hidden ancient tune of the Dies Irae, the Day of Wrath.

The point I wish to make is how humans must be watchful of wildlife habitats because we are all in this limited world together. Where wild creatures go, so do we. It was best said by Jane Goodall: "Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved."

Walruses are huge aquatic animals who are powerful and swift in the water, but when they jump onto sea ice to rest, they are anything but graceful. They are a bit comical, really. Subsistence hunters in the Bering Strait of Alaska are having trouble with their Spring hunts due to gradual warming of the arctic waters. Sea ice is getting thinner and the Walruses they rely upon to live are getting too far away. This Walrus Jump music is a pretty happy sounding boogie woogie that shows signs of musical distress as it goes on.