Trees.Listen
Sharlene Wallace; Frank Horvat
I Am Who I Am Records (frankhorvat.com)
Canadian musicians/composers/educators Frank Horvat (fixed electronics) and Sharlene Wallace (Celtic lever harps) collaborated on this nine-movement exploration of the wonder of trees. It is inspired by medical biochemist/botanist Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger’s book To Speak for the Trees.
Each “tree track” is based on a letter from the ancient Celtic Ogham script, a medieval alphabet that named each letter for a type of tree. One musical note from A B C D E F G and H (B-flat) was chosen to be predominant in each movement. A five-phase process was then used to create the music – phase one harp improvised samples, phase two creation of electronic bed tracks, phase three live harp parts over electronics tracks, phase four finetuning and phase five making final album with producer Jean Martin.
Opening Ailm – Pine features the note A throughout the harp strums, single plucked notes and softer repeated electronic grooves. Repeated lower harp and electronics add unexpected depth to this walk through a pine forest! Eabha – Aspen opens with electronic held sounds which then alternate with ascending harp strums and lines. Vibrating low held electronic notes under the more tonal harp parts make for an orchestral E sounding work exploring the wonder of trees! Fearn – Alder, with a F note focus, is very easy to listen to, tonal music with a happy colourful harp solo and electronic drumkit hits with detached harp notes for tree dancing!
Horvat and Wallace perform their storytelling tree music with spontaneity and virtuosity.
