photo by Millie Young
Pratidah, playing drum
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When I first heard that Mulatta Records was releasing “Water Music,” I was intrigued. Could I, well, “Handel” it? Such a familiar piece of music! But then, I read a bit further and discovered that this Water Music promised something very, very different.

Dave Sulzer is scientist. He’s a professor of Neurology, Psychiatry and Pharmacology at Columbia University. In 2000, he and Richard Lair, an elephant conservationist in Thailand for more than 20 years, co-founded an orchestra comprised of 14 elephants. Initially motivated by his interest in animal behavior, Sulzer–whose nom de staff is Dave Soldier–built heroically sized instruments to accommodate their pachyderm prodigies, and the elephants took to it like, um, ducks to water.

The music has no human intervention or participation save for an invocation by Boonyang, one of the master mahouts. Soldier feels it is perfection and thus there will not be another release beyond this, their third.

This is very simple music, zen-like and elegant. It is perfect for quiet contemplation or when the brain needs something to assist its train of thought. Humans feel that we have the lock on all things intellectual, and that creatures, who don’t speak in the way that we do, don’t communicate. Whale song, ultraviolet signatures visible to eyes evolved to receive them, and ultrasonic dog whistles should have clued us in that there are many ways for all creatures to have their say. Listen to this recording and go beyond yourself. It is transcendent and an ideal gift for friends who feel they have earned this year’s Spring awakening.

“Water Music,” by the Thai Elephant Orchestra, is available now on Amazon and wherever fine CDs are sold. Or be ultimately green and download MP3s. And learn more about the home of the orchestra, the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, at www.changthai.com. It’s a great way to Thai one on!