If Trees Could Talk
If Trees Could Talk is a 14 minute vocal ensemble work about trees and our relationship to them – how we as humans both abuse and revere them – and how they give us everything we need to live. It is based on a concept by hornist and author Ann Ellsworth, in which an abusive human and 3 trees interact. Scored for 3 sopranos and 1 mezzo-soprano, piano, and 4 Tibetan singing bowls, played by the singers, it includes video projections by filmmaker John Feldman whose recent film, Regenerating Life, looks at the climate crisis from an ecological perspective and explains why our destruction of the environment, and especially trees, is a primary cause of climate change.
The piece may be performed with or without the projections which can be run with a simple live projection software such as Q Lab. The score contains coordination points for the beginning of each shot. The Tibetan singing bowls are specifically pitched and each of the 4 singers plays one bowl. They can be obtained from Argenta Music or whoever rents Tibetan bowls. Samples of the bowls prepared by the publisher (contact Argenta@sheilasilver.com) can be downloaded into a simple keyboard set-up. Or, the bowls can be incorporated into the piano part by playing the fundamental of each bowl as notated and letting the piano’s natural reverberation with pedal do the rest. For more detailed information, download the performance instructions here (same as “bowl” instructions make hot with download).
A 2020 Sorel Commission performed at Songfest
Sunday June 12, 2022 at the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Julia Stuart, Sophie Thompson, Temple Hammen — sopranos
Jordan McCready, mezzo soprano
Natalie Sherer, piano
Conducted by Mark Trawka
Text and concept by Ann Ellsworth and Sheila Silver
Video projections by John Feldman
Music by Sheila Silver