Event
Arboretum: Music and Nature Converge in the Congaree
Fee:
Free.Dates & Times
Date:
Time:
Duration:
Type of Event
Description
Come see a special performance offered by The University of South Carolina Bassoon Studio, Alumni, and Friends!
Arboretum is a set of multiple interconnected solo pieces for bassoon. Each solo piece is connected to a specific species of tree, and the music reflects some characteristic of that tree - for instance, the Flowering Dogwood music is flowing and ornamental; the Tulip Poplar music is vast and monumental. In performance, each bassoonist stands by their tree, with players spread throughout a forest or arboretum.
The same way that trees in a forest are all interconnected in the same ecosystem (through soil, fungi, relationships with animals), all of the solo pieces are interconnected through harmony. Using stopwatches in performance, each player times their performance to line up harmonically with other solo pieces in different parts of the forest. The result for the listener, walking from player to player, is a slow motion harmonic progression unfolding from all directions - a chorale of the forest. In this performance, bass players sustain chord roots from the forest chorale throughout the piece. A stationary flute solo represents Spanish Moss; and one may encounter more flutists embodying local birds wandering amongst the trees - Pine Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, Northern Parulas, and Hermit Thrushes.
Audience members are encouraged to explore the soundscape in whatever way feels best. One can stand next to a single bassoonist to focus on a single tree, or walk from player to player, or pick a spot in which multiple pieces are audible at the same time. The twenty-minute piece will be performed twice, with a break in between, to allow for the experience from multiple angles.
The trees represented in this performance are:
American Beech
American Holly
Bald Cypress
Flowering Dogwood
Loblolly Pine
Swamp Tupelo
Sweetgum
Tulip Poplar
White Oak
For details about each tree species and its relationship to the music, please see the "Solos and Tree Species - Listening Guide," below.
Arboretum was premiered in June of 2019 at the Adkins Arboretum , Tuckahoe State Park, Ridgeley, MD as part of the NewBassoon Workshop, led by Rachael Elliott, Michael Harley, Lynn Hileman, and Saxton Rose. The USC bassoon studio first performed the piece in the Congaree in April of 2021, and we are pleased to bring it back this year! Portions of this version of the work were composed specifically for the Congaree National Park.
More information