Uploaded February 2017 | Updated September 2026, 9 hours ago
The endling - Luis Ramirez
For Soprano Sax, Melodica, two cellos, piano, and audio
The Kauaʻi ʻōʻō was a small bird endemic from Hawaii, which became extinct in the late 1980s. However, before the last one died its song was recorded. This is the song of an endling, the final member of a species asking to no one: “Hey, where are we all?”
It is a male calling for a mate that will never come.
I wrote an elegy to accompany this bird, as it is falling into oblivion.
Performed by the Brandon University New Music Ensemble, during the Winnipeg New Music Festival 2017
Alanna Hunter, cello
Mabel Contreras, cello
Mariana Castro, melodica
Luke Parnell, soprano sax
Luis Ramirez, piano
Centennial Hall, Winnipeg
February 1st, 2017
The endling - Luis Ramirez
For Soprano Sax, Melodica, two cellos, piano, and audio
The Kauaʻi ʻōʻō was a small bird endemic from Hawaii, which became extinct in the late 1980s. However, before the last one died its song was recorded. This is the song of an endling, the final member of a species asking to no one: “Hey, where are we all?”
It is a male calling for a mate that will never come.
I wrote an elegy to accompany this bird, as it is falling into oblivion.
Performed by the Brandon University New Music Ensemble, during the Winnipeg New Music Festival 2017
Alanna Hunter, cello
Mabel Contreras, cello
Mariana Castro, melodica
Luke Parnell, soprano sax
Luis Ramirez, piano
Centennial Hall, Winnipeg
February 1st, 2017
