The Voice of Trees
Two virtuosi meet in this dramatic and compelling musical saga. Lubomyr Melnyk, one of the most fascinating composers of this century, and Melvyn Poore, the brilliant British tuba-ist. It was recorded at the live performance with the Kilina Cremona Dance Company at the Maison de la Danse, Lyon (France) on April 20, 1985.
Lubomyr Melnyk composed The Voice of Trees for the ballet ESCIA. The dancers and the musicians worked on their own, quite separately, and the two elements, the dance and the music, came together first in the final rehearsals. This particular work was taken on tour with the Dance Company to several cities in France and Switzerland, among others to the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Melnyk performed both piano parts of this difficult Continuous Music composition. The first part was recorded on tape, together with Melvyn Poore's first tuba part. Then a second, unaligned tuba part was recorded onto another tape. Both tapes were then played, with Melnyk and Poore performing the third piano/tuba part live on stage with the dancers. For The Voice of Trees, no electronic manipulation was done to the music - only the natural sounds from the live instruments and the two pre-recordings can be heard.
Lubomyr Melnyk's Continuous Music is known for its elevating effect that causes the audience to be carried away in endless beautiful patterns played at a very high speed. Poore elevates the tuba to a solo instrument, as evocative as the trumpet. In this particular piece, he creates many untypical and nimble effects on the tuba, which are hard to describe with words. One has to listen to this major-length work (65 minutes, separated into two parts) to understand its beauty.
All music copyright by Lubomyr Melnyk, 1985. All rights reserved.
Cover art: Lars Hertervig (Norway 1830-1902), Skogtjern (Forest Lake), Oil on canvas, 1865.
- Instruments
- 2 Pianos, 3 Tubas
- Musicians
- Lubomyr Melnyk (Pianos), Melvyn Poore (Tubas)
- Total Playtime
- 66 minutes
- Year
- 1985