The Red Tree: A Potent Mix

We invited members of its online community to review The Red Tree. Watch the blog or join our Facebook group for your chance to review a concert.

In what was perhaps one of their most ambitious projects to date, the ACO pushed artistic boundaries presenting Richard Tognetti’s arrangement of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 15 and The Red Tree – a new work by Tognetti and Michael Yezerski – in a dynamic multimedia concert on June 20 at the Sydney Opera House.

Like the intrepid traveler in the accompanying images, Richard Tognetti took a considerable risk arranging Shostakovich’s 15th String Quartet for the ACO – defiant of the inevitable purist grumblings. Tognetti’s arrangement preserved the stark and austere qualities for which the work is renowned, the themes divided amongst the players creating a simultaneously multi-layered and sparse texture.

It was very effective – the angular sections of the serenade and epilogue were powerfully played and emphasised further the ruminative melancholy of the remaining movements. Tognetti, as usual, led a musically sensitive and accurate performance.

The experience of Shostakovich’s sparse score was enriched by a series of illustrations from Shaun Tan’s picture book The Arrival, projected one by one onto a large screen above the orchestra. Tan’s evocative and detailed illustrations in shades of black, white and sepia depicted a man’s journey from an impoverished village to a new life in a foreign country, and the people and places he encounters along the way.

The connection between this man’s journey and Shostakovich’s meditation on death was intriguingly ambiguous; nevertheless, the overall impression was compelling.

The Red Tree, scored for chamber orchestra and children’s choir, also incorporated projected illustrations describing a journey – through despair to hope – from Tan’s picture book of the same name. The rich variety of textures, styles and colours of Tan’s illustrations were integral to Yezerski conception of the music and the subtle rendering of these was evident throughout the work.

Incorporating texts drawn from various sources, the libretto utilised three languages – Finnish, English and ancient Hebrew – which was conceptually intriguing, although the linguistic subtleties were lost unless the text was already familiar, or you could read in the dark.

The seven movements of The Red Tree took their titles from the names of the illustrations with which they were pared, effectively describing the emotional states which provided impetus for Yezerski score. The gritty dissonances, frenetic string activity and angular melodies were well contrasted with several lyrical sections, and the ACO again gave a polished and well-balanced performance. Under the inspired direction of Lyn Williams, the Gondwana voices sang outstandingly, and the several soloists performed with maturity and accuracy.

It’s not often that audiences in this country are able to witness performances of such a high caliber fusing orchestra, visual art and choir, and it made for a thought-provoking and unconventional concert – perhaps providing creative stimulus for future collaborative projects for the ACO.

Laura Mathison, ACO Community Reviewer

ACO Shines in The Red Tree

We invited members of its online community to review The Red Tree. Watch the blog or join our Facebook group for your chance to review a concert.

The latest offering from the Australian Chamber Orchestra is a collaboration with artist Shaun Tan and the Sydney based children’s choir, Gondwana Voices. The programme consisted of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 15th String Quartet in E-flat minor, and of a new work entitled The Red Tree, after the book written by Shaun Tan, composed by Michael Yezerski and Richard Tognetti.

The ACO play with a consistently beautiful sound, and their performance of the Shostakovich Quartet was no exception. The work consists of six Adagio movements and is a notoriously difficult one to perform; Richard Tognetti led the ensemble through a precise and sensitive performance of a quality that is not often heard in this country. The orchestra were perfectly together for the duration of the work, and the intonation of the ensemble, even during the quiet senza vibrato sections, was perfect.

Ironically, the weakest parts of the performance were during the solo passages in which Tognetti’s arrangement is closest to the original quartet; Principle Cellist Timo-Veikko Valve played his solos musically but was inconsistent in his intonation, and a cadenza-like passage in the third movement that would have suited a solo player was given to the entire first violin section.

A special mention goes to Principal Bassist Maxime Bibeau, who grounded the orchestra both harmonically and rhythmically in a performance that was not only technically accomplished, but also extraordinarily musical. Tognetti and Helena Rathbone also led the first and second violins with accuracy and panache.

Despite the fact that Shaun Tan’s art suited the Shostakovich perfectly in terms of atmosphere, the manner of the juxtaposition left something to be desired. While the projections above the orchestra initially depicted a migrant narrative, the story was soon abandoned in favour of more abstract images that distracted, rather than added to the performance. Occasionally however, there were images that resonated powerfully with Shostakovich’s work – one depicted a lone figure standing in the shadow of a ruined town, while black snow swirled about him.

Yezerski and Tognetti’s The Red Tree was inspired directly by Tan’s book, making the union of music and art in the second half much more effective and seamless. Neither aspect of the performance detracted from the other; they combined to create a wholly successful work that engaged both the eyes and the ears of the audience.

Lyn Williams conducted the work competently, and deserves accolades for the way in which she prepared the singers of Gondwana Voices, who sang like angels. The ensemble and intonation of the children’s choir was flawless, and the soloists sang parts that many professional singers would have had serious trouble with.

The orchestra played just as well in the second half as they had in the first, infusing the work with drama and passion. Brian Nixon joined the orchestra on percussion, giving the ensemble extra punch during the loud and fast movements.

The Red Tree was a wonderful concert experience: lacklustre visuals in the first half could not dampen the effectiveness of Shostakovich’s music, and the combination of Tan’s breathtaking art and impeccable performances from the ACO and Gondwana Voices in the second half both pleased and excited the Sydney audience.

Adam Szabo, ACO Community Reviewer

Child's tale taps emotional scales

From The Sydney Morning Herald 10/07/08

Two composers have collaborated on a work which captures their response to a picture book story about a little girl's bad day, writes Clare Morgan.

Everyone knows the feeling. You wake up with the nameless dreads, as if a dark cloud is hanging over you and nobody understands why you feel so low or can penetrate that sense of being alone.

The Australian author and artist Shaun Tan captured such emotions exquisitely in his children's picture book The Red Tree, the deceptively simple story of a little girl struggling through a bad day, confused and afraid, until a final, glorious blossoming of hope.

Read the full article.

Calling All Citizen Reviewers

Fancy yourself a bit of a wordsmith? Want to try your hand at reviewing?

We've got some tickets for fans in Sydney and Melbourne who want to go along to The Red Tree and write a review of the concert which we'll post here on the blog and the on website.

Learn more about The Red Tree here and then email aco (at) aco (dot) com (dot) au and tell us in 25 words why you should get the tickets and write the review.

Hurry: entries close noon Friday 11 July.

(Note to Sydney entrants: you must be able to go to the Sydney performance on at 2.30pm on Sunday 20 July.)

A Conversation with Michael Yezerski

Michael Yezerski is co-composer of The Red Tree, the ACO's July tour. He spoke with Robert Murray about the process of creating this brand new work based on the acclaimed book by Shaun Tan for the ACO and Gondwana Voices.

How have you approached translating the book into music?

The book is not a straight narrative, it’s a series of painting that evokes a series of different moods to do with what could be thought of as depression or turbulent emotion. So the music is not also literal or linear. It’s basically seven emotional states, and there are seven movements in the piece. They’re all pretty dark although it does come to a positive place in the end, a really pure and uplifting place. Because it’s a picture book people might think of it as being for children but it’s really for adults too. The idea of the book is that you can have a bad day and that’s perfectly OK because at the end it, there’s hope.

That’s defined the direction of the music. You’ve got movements which are emotional and turbulent and beautiful and rich and strange but you also get to this place which is one of absolute beauty and hope.

What attracted you to this project?

When Richard Tognetti calls you and asks you to work with him… that on its own is enough to get you pretty excited. Then you add in the element of the ACO (I’ve been coming to ACO concerts for as long as Richard’s been leading them). Even if I was just writing for the ACO I’d be really, really excited. But then, when you add in the Gondwana Voices and Lyn Williams [Gondwana Voices Artistic Director]… they’re just an extraordinary bunch of kids with amazing voices and Lyn of course has taken them to the most incredible level in terms of artistry and professionalism and musicality.

Then, of course, there’s Shaun Tan and his images. I discovered Shaun probably eight years and I started looking at his books. He published a book called ‘The Rabbits’ which he wrote with John Marsden and that was the first time I noticed him and since then I’ve been following every single book. It was kind of random that Richard happened to call and ask if I was interested in collaborating on a Shaun Tan-inspired piece.

It’s an amazing opportunity for a composer and I’m very honoured to be asked.

You already had an attachment to paintings. What is it about Shaun’s work that you find so compelling?

I’m really interested (and it’s something I try to do in my own work) in texture and complexity of texture. For example, if you actually look at the original illustrations you discover that there are so many layers in his work. So many layers of paint and brushwork and etching and scratching and colours. And then so many different shapes laid on top of each other. Then on top of that, there are all these different ideas. He talks about creativity being about bringing things from all different areas and putting them in one illustration. For example, there’s a painting in the book called ‘Then All Your Troubles Come At Once’ which is all these ships closing in around the girl. It’s inspired by a Turner painting called ‘Steamboat off a Harbour’s Mouth’. It’s that kind of connecting of ideas which I really relate to. It’s the kind of thing I try to do in my work too, to take different bits of things that I’ve heard during my life and try to fit them in or allude to them.

Shaun has the most amazing mind in that he really makes everything that he does his own. I think in a creator that’s really the highest you can aspire to.

You mention texture and colour. Does that give some indication of what the ‘sound world’ of The Red Tree is like?

Well I hope so. One of the first things that I did when I first started thinking about the piece what to actually trace some of the illustrations onto some tracing paper and then put them up against a sheet of manuscript and look at the way some of the lines fell on the page. It sounds completely wanky [laughs]. We actually got a couple of melodies and a couple of little phrases that ended up in the final piece that are based on those tracings. So it’s almost like some the illustrations actually have dictated the musical line.

Beyond that, it’s things such as if I’ve seen a Japanese influence in one the paintings, maybe I’ll allude to it in one of the melodies. Certain colours of painting have evoked certain textural ‘colours’ in the music. If one of the paintings is quite orange I’ll try to make an ‘orange’ feel in the music.

If a person went into the concert with their eyes closed and didn’t look at the images, would they be able to get a sense what those paintings were about from listening to it?

Whenever you sit down to write any piece – whether it’s a concert piece or a film score – you want the music to stand alone, it has to speak for itself. The images are a point of reference for the audience but you don’t need the images to tell you what the music’s doing and similarly you don’t need the music to describe the images. It’s a symbiotic relationship but not a co-dependant relationship.

Could you tell us about the process – the collaboration?

Everyone asks how is it possible for two composers to sit down and write a piece. I think ordinarily – or in the past - that this hasn’t been possible mostly for technological reasons. Software allows you to send ideas and scores back and forth by email. It’s not two people sitting at a piano arguing over who gets to put pencil to paper. Richard and I started off hurling ideas at each other and the best ones ended up on the page and in the piece. We began at King Island in December and we spent the week down there in lock up throwing ideas around, throwing concepts around. Then in early January and we each worked on our own, developing and shaping. Then soon after we went to the Gondwana Voices Choral Summer School and worked with the kids for two days. We presented some really early sketches; that was absolutely invaluable as we got to hear a pretty good realisation of the early ideas so we knew straight away what was working and what wasn’t and what they liked and didn’t like. From there it’s been building bit by bit until here we are with this behemoth at the end.

Is working this way more difficult or easier or just different from your usual practice?

I would say it’s different. It definitely poses challenges, there’s no question. Generally with concert music the authorial voice is very, very strong, the idea that there’s this one Great Composer.

In this way, it’s a really fascinating process because what you’re actually getting is the best ideas of two authorial voices. Hopefully we’ve found a way to seamlessly connect everything but there’s still Richard’s and my ‘DNA’ in every part of this piece.

At the end of it, it’s been a really fulfilling and rewarding process for both of us. I’ve learned a tremendous amount from working with him.

What do you hope that people will take away from the evening?

It’s kind of old-fashioned but I really hope people will love it. I really hope that people will love the piece and love the performance and love the experience. Opportunities like this don’t come very often, when you have this incredible fusion with images, orchestra, choir, soloists, Richard and his violin and a new work. We want to encourage the future creation of these kinds of events. I do hope that audiences will be moved by it, that they’ll be thrilled. Parts of the piece they might find very confronting, which is a very necessary part of the work and part of the journey of the story. But those more confronting moments will be balanced by moments of absolute beauty and purity. When audiences leave I hope they’ll leave uplifted and moved and want to hear more.

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Suburban Dreaming

Nice profile of author-illustrator Shaun Tan in The Weekend Australian, here.