Lisa Neher is an American Composer born in Seattle and writes theatrical, dramatic music. She draws inspiration for her instrumental works from the natural world, and in the case of Gulper evoking the eerie mystery of deep ocean life.
The gulper eel or pelican eel is not an eel at all but a deep-water fish named for it’s enormous, pelican-like mouth, which is much larger than the rest of its long, skinny body. At the end of its tail, the gulper eel has a special organ with many small tentacles that glows pink and occasionally flashes red to attract prey, mostly squid and crustaceans.
It is tragic and deeply frustrating that what little we know about these animals comes from those inadvertently caught in fishing nets. The sudden change of temperature as they are pulled fromthe depths to the surface kills them, and thus research on live gulper eels in their natural habit is extremely limited.
In this piece, the gulper eel comes to life, illuminating its lure, lying in wait for prey, moving about in the deep sea with its whip-like tail, and finally coming in for the kill. I hope this piece cultivated interest and empathy for this fascinating and mysterious creature.