“Arboreal Melancholia” explores humanity’s complex emotional relationship with forests through diverse musical traditions spanning continents and generations. Host Bart Everson begins with Pollenate’s “Magpie” from Australia, acknowledging indigenous Yaralde wisdom and the profound reminder that “the trees breathe us.” Carrie Newcomer follows with the contemplative “I Give Myself to This,” observing how “this forest has a different sense of time than yours or mine.” Sarina Partridge’s “Coming Back Home to Myself” explores healing within “the arms of this old forest,” while Yames’ instrumental “Crown of Trees” offers “Druidic Dreamsongs” from Virginia. Kate Daisy Grant and Nick Pynn’s haunting “Keening Song (For the Hazel)” concludes the first set with its Latin lamentation. After the break, In Gowan Ring presents “The Wondrous Stubborn Lyre,” a new composition based on a Taoist folk tale. The ambitious “Forest Threnody,” composed by Yii Kah Hoe and performed by the Claremont Concert Choir, incorporates Malaysian tree frog sounds, Buddhist chants, and staged protests within a 13-minute choral masterwork addressing environmental destruction. The program concludes with a tonal shift, Sheila & Des Majek’s 1989 Nigerian reggae track “Let Us Plant a Tree Today,” celebrating their pioneering agroforestry work—reminding listeners that amid all our collective sorrows, planting new trees offers hope.
0071: Arboreal Melancholia
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