Climate: Emergency (Daniel Kidane, Clarice Assad, Lei Liang, Evelien van den Broek) | Ep.9

09/29/21 • 35 min

Composers Daniel Kidane, Clarice Assad, Lei Liang and Evelien van den Broek share their music and thoughts exploring the climate emergency in music. What does it mean to be a composer in times of a climate crisis? How does our awareness of the crisis enter our work, and how do we find meaning in our work in these times?

From exploring cultural belonging and understanding our place on this planet through myth to the imperative of artists to be good storytellers, we listen to field recordings of extinct species and vanishing rainforests and music that reflects and inspires. Join our CEO Susanna Eastburn MBE and composer Des Oliver for a unique insight into composing.

This episode features a reading of John Agard’s poem Inheritance (© John Agard 2015 and reproduced by kind permission of John Agard c/o Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency Ltd)

Our recommendation at the end is for Music Declares Emergency (https://musicdeclares.net/)

In this episode, you listened to the following music and sounds:

Daniel Kidane

Ruin (2020), the second movement from Song of the Prophets, a commission and collaboration between Christian Aid UK and Chineke! Orchestra

Clarice Assad

Lemuria (2018), commissioned and performed by Left Coast Chamber Ensemble as part of The Sound of Nature (2018-19 season)

Lei Liang

Lake (1999/2013), performed by The Awea Duo and available on Bridge Records
A Thousand Mountains, A Million Streams (2018), performed by Boston Modern Orchestra Project and available on BMOP/sound. Published by Schott Music, and winner of the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition in 2020

Evelien van den Broek

Endlings (2020), the album version of Biophonica, a stage work exploring biodiversity loss with Mark Nieuwenhuis, available on Bandcamp

Ecognosis (2021), created for an installation by BetweenTwoHands

This podcast was produced by Michael Umney (Resonance FM) and mixed by Chris Bartholomew, with the theme tune composed by Rob Bentall.

Our heartfelt thanks to the record labels, performers, composers and organisations who allowed us to include excerpts of these recordings on the podcast.

This episode features a reading of John Agard’s poem Inheritance (© John Agard 2015 and reproduced by kind permission of John Agard c/o Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency Ltd)

Our recommendation at the end is for Music Declares Emergency (https://musicdeclares.net/)

In this episode, you listened to the following music and sounds:

Daniel Kidane

Ruin (2020), the second movement from Song of the Prophets, a commission and collaboration between Christian Aid UK and Chineke! Orchestra

Clarice Assad

Lemuria (2018), commissioned and performed by Left Coast Chamber Ensemble as part of The Sound of Nature (2018-19 season)

Lei Liang

Lake (1999/2013), performed by The Awea Duo and available on Bridge Records
A Thousand Mountains, A Million Streams (2018), performed by Boston Modern Orchestra Project and available on BMOP/sound. Published by Schott Music, and winner of the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition in 2020

Evelien van den Broek

Endlings (2020), the album version of Biophonica, a stage work exploring biodiversity loss with Mark Nieuwenhuis, available on Bandcamp

Ecognosis (2021), created for an installation by BetweenTwoHands

This podcast was produced by Michael Umney (Resonance FM) and mixed by Chris Bartholomew, with the theme tune composed by Rob Bentall.

Our heartfelt thanks to the record labels, performers, composers and organisations who allowed us to include excerpts of these recordings on the podcast.

Previous Episode

Queerness (Reeta Loi, Michael Wolters, Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser) | Ep.8

Composers Reeta Loi, Michael Wolters and Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser share their music and thoughts exploring queerness in music. What does it mean to be a queer composer today, and is there such a thing as queer music?

From the playful to the divine, we listen to a drag character lost in space, gender-bending tracks, and work that plays with failure as a creative starting point. Join our CEO Susanna Eastburn MBE and composer/researcher Ruari Paterson-Achenbach for a unique insight into composing.

Our recommendation at the end is for the creative collective the mermaid café (Joanna Ward and Ruari Paterson-Achenbach)

In this episode, you listened to the following music and sounds:

Reeta Loi

Unki Yaad (2018), from Ek EP
Founder (unreleased) by Reeta Loi
Taken (unreleased), by Reeta Loi and James Perera – to be released in Autumn 2021

Michael Wolters

‘Aria Cuntata and the Black Holes (2020), conceived by Michael Wolters and performed by Michael Wolters and Paul Norman
Queer Concerto for Nine Saxophones (2020), performed by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra and Saxophone Department, conducted by Barry Wordsworth

Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser

Bibliography and smash bros (2020), by flxnflx, a lockdown collaboration between Maya-Leigh and James McIlwrath
Attack (2018), by Equinox, which is Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser, Taner Kemirtlek and George Kypridemos

This podcast was produced by Michael Umney (Resonance FM) and mixed by Chris Bartholomew, with the theme tune composed by Rob Bentall.

Our heartfelt thanks to the record labels, performers, composers and organisations who allowed us to include excerpts of these recordings on the podcast.

Next Episode

Climate: Place (Hanna Tuulikki, Colin Riley, Dai Fujikura) | Ep.10

Composers Hanna Tuulikki, Colin Riley and Dai Fujikura share their music and thoughts exploring the importance of place in music. How does the more-than-human manifest itself in the composers’ music, and what does it mean to be composing music in times of the climate crisis?

From imitating birds to Japanese onomatopoeia, we listen to a song written for a stream in the Cairngorms, music that imitates the freedom and order of birds flying, and how can one make sense of climate grief through sound and movement. Join our CEO Susanna Eastburn MBE and festival director Fiona Robertson (Sound Scotland) for a unique insight into composing.

Our recommendation at the end is for In Place, a collection of songs by Colin Riley which you can explore fully at InPlaceProject.co.uk

In this episode, you listened to the following music and sounds:

Hanna Tuulikki

cloud-cuckoo-island (2016), a solo camera performance by Hanna Tuulikki
Metsänpeiton Alla (Under Forest Cover) (2021), an installation presented at the Helsinki Biennial 2021 exploring climate grief
Deer Dancer (2019), part of an installation presented at Edinburgh Art Festival 2019, the audio is now available on Bandcamp

Colin Riley

Litanies for the Furness Fells (2018), featuring words by Richard Skelton and Autumn Richardson; part of In Place, released by Squeaky Kate Music
Water over Stone (2018), featuring words by Nan Shepherd; part of In Place released by Squeaky Kate Music
Earth Voices: I. Luften (2021), commissioned by and premiered by Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra at Helsingborg Konserthus, Sweden conducted by Alfonso Scarano

Dai Fujikura

Secret Forest (2008), performed by Okeanos Ensemble and released on NMC recordings
Gliding Wings (2019), performed by Ensemble Nomad with Makoto Yoshida, Hideo Kikuchi (clarinets) and conducted by Norio Sato; released on Minabel records

This podcast was produced by Michael Umney (Resonance FM) and mixed by Chris Bartholomew, with the theme tune composed by Rob Bentall.

Our heartfelt thanks to the record labels, performers, composers and organisations who allowed us to include excerpts of these recordings on the podcast.