A World Beneath
Lessons from trees: 6. Community
A World Beneath for string orchestra, piano and harp 1
This is the sixth and final in a series of demo recordings for my upcoming album I Stand Silent | Six meditations on the life of trees. Orchestral music for meditation and contemplation.
Find out more here.
No tree is an island
Solid trunk emerges from solid ground Extending into branches Supporting buds, leaves, flowers, fruits Visited by animals, insects, birds Above ground A tree is a world within itself Below, there is another world Dark and mysterious Teaming with microscopic life Networks of interactivity and mutual support A world beneath As humans travel into space To discover new worlds There are wonders beyond imagining Just millimeters away Beneath our feet
Lots of organisms interact. If one makes a map of who interacts with whom, one sees a network. However, fungal networks form physical connections between plants. It is the difference between having twenty acquaintances, and having twenty acquaintances with whom one shares a circulatory system.
Merlin Sheldrake – Entangled Life
Ann Collins generously shared this image of Ghost Pipes, along with others, that I’ve included in the music video. Ann writes…
Ghost Pipes are nearly impossible to propagate because they depend on a complex support system and nourishment from nearby trees. These pink ones are even less common. They’re also beautiful in every stage as they fade.
Ann has a wonderful newsletter called Microseasons which I highly recommend.
The music
Through descending musical steps, the listener is invited into a dark and mysterious world teaming with life, where living connections are made between the forest giants and the smallest of microbes. Where networks of fungi feed the forest.
Interweaving musical lines signal this complex interactivity of organisms.
The use of string harmonics hints at the delicate networks of mycelia2 and the intense activity of microrganisms that interact with the tree roots, providing nutrients and creating pathways through the soil for oxygen and water.
Know the score: A World Beneath
Nematode and amoeba videos by Kerry Lehmann. Several images by
, others from artists on Pixabay, unSplash and Pexels. My thanks and appreciation to all.“Mycelium is ecological connective tissue, the living seam by which much of the world is stitched into relation…it is impossible to measure the extent to which mycelium perfuses the Earth’s structures, systems and inhabitants – its weave is too tight.”
Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life
I notice how whenever I'm lucky enough to find beauty in nature, it’s not because of any prowess or expertise on my part. It's simply about looking and listening--waiting for a gift to be shyly offered.
It always feels like a conversation--something that calls us all by name. Very quietly.
Thank you, my friend, for your music and for your ongoing part in inspiring reverence and wonder in a world so much in need of these.
Another beautiful piece, Glyn. And an equally beautiful video.