BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Artists in Australia are turning to music to send powerful messages about climate change. From compositions that set scientific data to music, to others that translate flower species into graphic scores or confront us with the plastic waste, local composers and musicians are expressing their concern with the state of our environment.
One such artist has created new music that tackles climate change through an inventive form.
Hugh Crosthwaite’s Cassandra for violin and piano, and Metamorphoses for mezzo-soprano and piano, will be given their world premiere performances at the Melbourne Recital Centre this February 3. Drawing from ancient myth, the works encourage us to think of our own impact on the natural world.
We chat with Hugh to learn more about the way he calls for change through music inspired by poetry and historic tales.
Hugh, tell us why you were moved to make music about climate change.
I believe that climate change is among the most serious social issues we presently face, individually and as a community. I feel that I have a duty to write music that engages with social issues to try and help move those issues along in a positive way. So I write music about our environment and what we are doing to it.
I want to see positive change in our world, and one of the ways I believe I can contribute to promoting that change is by putting the thing I want changed right at the front of my art.
In order to send a message about climate change, you’ve ventured back into history with Cassandra. What can this legend teach us about our current world?
My friend, the poet Brian Walters, wrote a poem setting out the [Cassandra] metaphor, and my work was inspired by his idea.
I was inspired to write my music because I believe myth can teach us a lot about the instinct to avoid the difficult choices in the face of threatening evidence. In the case of climate change, the jury is in and the forecast is bleak. With that knowledge, we can follow the path of the Trojans at our peril, or we can heed Cassandra’s warning and take swift, necessary action.
Your second piece is Metamorphoses. Why did you feel the need to composer two works with this message? In what way does this piece shed light on climate change in a way that Cassandra does not?
Metamorphoses is quite different to Cassandra because it began with the work of poet Bella Li. I commissioned Bella to write some poetry inspired by the general themes I was contemplating. But, beyond the broad themes, the creative direction of the foundational poetry was all hers. My job was simply to set the poems to music.
I think Bella’s work is terrifically imaginative and was a wonderful base from which to compose music. I feel that she expressed ideas about our humanity and our shared history that directed my music in a way that I would not have come up with on my own.
Where Cassandra is a fairly clear narrative, Metamorphoses is an abstract exploration of ideas. Perfectly complementary inspirations from perfectly complementary poets.
You’ve chosen a combination of jazz and ancient modal harmony to portray these themes. How did you make this aesthetic decision surrounding the translation of climate change into music?
Cassandra uses a lot of modal harmony because I wanted to reach back to the society that created the myth. Plato talks of the modes that reflect knowledge (among other things) and an exploration of knowledge is a key element of the metaphor. It seemed to me that I ought to be led by the ancient philosopher’s wisdom in retelling the ancient story in the 21st Century.
Metamorphoses uses a lot of jazz harmony in a way that is not at all jazz. I had asked Alex to sing for me and she had agreed, which was wonderful because she has such a terrific voice. However, I had not really landed on a harmonic concept and I was very keen to do something new.
I had seen Mina Yu play with the hip-hop band ZEDSIX and thought that she and Alexandra Mathew would sound wonderful together; the pure mezzo-soprano tone against a lush extended harmonic accompaniment. I thought about writing all the notes out but I felt it would work better if I gave Mina and Alex guidance and freedom, so the scores look like through composed vocal works with a type of jazz infected figured base. It wouldn’t have been possible without such wonderful musicians as Alex and Mina.
I understand that for you, this music is a call-to-action about climate change. At the end of the day, how would you like your listeners to act or their behaviour to change?
I don’t think it’s my place to tell people how to live, and I have no intention of doing so. Rather, I hope that people come to my concert and have an experience that inspires them to confront the reality of our present condition, openly and honestly; with a constructive and optimistic disposition; and ready to work with their fellow humans to create a world better than the one we currently enjoy.
Whether we do or not is the question that Cassandra leaves the audience with.
Cassandra will take place at the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Primrose Potter Salon at 6.30pm February 3. It’s a collaboration between Hugh Crosthwaite with Bella Li, Brian Walters and Mina Yu, featuring performances by mezzo-soprano Alexandra Mathew, violinist Monica Curro, and pianist Stefan Cassomenos.
The project is supported by Creative Partnerships Australia, the Australian Cultural Fund, and Pozible supporters.
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