An Auditory Survey of the Last Days of the Holocene Section 1.2 Trees - performed by SHHH!! Ensemble
From the 2023 album of electro-chamber music, An Auditory Survey of the Last Days of the Holocene, featuring the artivist music of Canadian composer Frank Horvat and performed by the SHHH!! Ensemble. Released by Leaf Music.
LISTEN:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4JXZ0T5KCdm0jGUEEwK0XU
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/horvat-an-auditory-survey-of-the-last-days-of-the-holocene/1708339851
An Auditory Survey of the Last Days of the Holocene is a continuous multi-movement composition that indexes the sounds of humanity’s destructive past and present. It is an intense and comprehensive musical depiction into how our planet has gotten to this precipice in the climate crisis.
This composition features over 20 different percussion instruments (both pitched and non-pitched), grand piano (including some toy piano), plus a fixed sound design part containing over 150 different audio samples and electronic sounds.
Holocene is divided into 4 parts, the first of which, ‘Causes’ provides an aural summary of the main contributors to the current degradation of our planet. These are sounds we often do not hear in our everyday lives so it was important for me that the music have a raw quality so listeners are made starkly aware that these are the main culprits of our current horrific state.
In this video, you are hearing Section 2 from Part 1, If Trees Fall in the Forest. Audio samples include chainsaws clear-cutting. a Feller Buncher, trees falling and a pulp and paper mill / saw mill.
Part 2, ‘Symptoms’, is more of a statement on humankind’s gluttony in consumption and privilege at the mercy of the planet’s natural resources. For this reason, I wanted this part to have a more sardonic tone pointing the lens back at ourselves.
When conceptualizing the story that we wanted Holocene to tell, we had to decide whether or not it should have a happy ending. In other words, should we be optimistic or pessimistic for our future on this planet? I feel hope because I truly believe that there is time to reverse course. Once we’ve established a more sustainable planet, I want future listeners to hear the first two parts of Holocene as a historical catalogue, like a museum gallery, for those destructive reverberations that no longer exist ‘in the wild’ because humans decided it was time to dismantle them (Part 3 – Solutions). If we choose this path, we can ensure a future for the sounds that are truly important to us (Part 4 – The Outcome), making certain those continue to thrive for epochs to come. We might be entering a new age out of the mistakes of our past but with a re-birth comes the ability to choose how we want to move forward.
– Frank Horvat
Commissioned by the SHHH!! Ensemble
PERFORMERS:
Zac Pulak (marimba, toms)
Edana Higham (piano)
INFO for AN AUDITORY SURVEY OF THE LAST DAYS OF THE HOLOCENE:
https://frankhorvat.com/composition/an-auditory-survey-of-the-last-days-of-the-holocene/
VIDEO:
Lisa Horvat
ALBUM:
Listen: https://frankhorvat.com/discography/an-auditory-survey-of-the-last-days-of-the-holocene/
Produced by Carl Talbot
Recorded May 2023 at Le Domaine Forget, Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada
Made possible by the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
More about the SHHH!! Ensemble:
https://shhhensemble.com
ABOUT Frank:
Frank Horvat is a multi-genre composer whose compositions take listeners on a journey through the depths of emotion. Horvat has carved a niche for himself among today’s composers, wearing his fragile heart on his sleeve (CBC Classical).
Frank Horvat is one of the most inventive songwriters to come out of the contemporary scene in Canada (WholeNote Magazine). He explores different themes, ranging from love to the environment and mental health. In this fast-paced world, his music invites audiences to pause. Each note reveals deeply personal stories while leaving room for listeners to ponder their own.
Frank’s music is featured on over twenty albums and has premiered on concert stages spanning five continents, resonating through theater, film, and the airwaves. From BBC Radio 3 to CBC, Discovery, HBO, NBC, Netflix, and Vice, his music has woven its way into the fabric of our cultural consciousness.
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