Instruments in Trees

Instruments in Trees is a semi-composed/semi-improvised work for arboreal materials and upside-down string quartet (two cellos, viola, and violin). Sticks, twigs, leaves, needles, pinecones, bark, and lichen are cultivated as sound sources in a performance that investigates cycles and processes inherent to trees. These materials are used raw, to prepare the strings, and in the creation/assemblage of new instruments such as the “Long Twig,” “Driftwood Pipe Organ,” “Pine Cone Xylophone,” “Eucalyptus Curtains,” and “Autumn Bonsais”. Throughout the work there is a special emphasis on exploring very quiet phenomena and the subtle intricacies of sounds not usually considered musical. Instruments in Trees is the result of a year and a half of experimentation and improvisation with these rich materials. It was originally developed for a residency at Engine 27 in New York in April 2003.