Among Giants

Lessons from trees: 4. Being

Among Giants for French horn and string orchestra ¹
(The string basses feature in this piece. I recommend listening with headphones or good speakers.)

This is the fourth 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.

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The Wisdom of Trees

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The timelessness of forests

The gathered trees impose their heft and grandeur
Conveying a sense of permanence
Of being and belonging
Surrounded by their fallen ancestors
Who, covered in moss 
Are slowly returning to the soil

A fallen Eucalyptus regnans in Mount Field National Park, lutruwita/Tasmania, Australia. Image by Glyn Lehmann

The music

The ebb and flow of each repeated musical phrase is intended to create the feeling of these giants breathing in unison. For a calming and immersive experience try breathing along. The piece is in a slow 3/4. Count 6 beats to inhale, 6 beats to exhale for each 4 bar musical phrase.

The solo French horn represents the life of an individual tree and its singular place in the forest, while being part of the wider community of interweaving relationships represented by the constant, enduring breath of the strings.

At 4:10 the mood changes dramatically as the perennial nature of the forest is threatened by human intervention.

I adapted this music from my song Giant of the Forest about the Centurion Tree in lutruwita/Tasmania (this tree is shown at 2:00 in the video above). A Eucalyptus regnans, at 100 metres it is the second tallest tree in the world and the world’s tallest flowering plant. Here is the song performed by the wonderful Young Adelaide Voices from my hometown.

Giant of the Forest

I fell to the earth
A tiny seed
Five hundred years ago
Struggling and striving to grow straight and strong
Here in my mountain forest home

I am Centurion

I have seen the fires raging over ridges
Skeletons left in their wake
I have heard the steel blades
Tearing through the tall trees
The crack and the crash as they fall

Still…
I am Centurion
Giant of the forest

And when my life ends
A seed will fall
Onto the earth below
Struggling and striving to grow straight and strong
Here in my mountain forest home

Rising up
Striving for life-giving light
Down, down, down
Delving down deep
Into Earth’s damp fertile soil

I am Centurion
Giant of the forest

Australia is undergoing a sustained, mostly hidden deforestation crisis on a global scale. Australia is listed among 24 global deforestation fronts — the only developed nation on the list, and alongside places like the Amazon, the Congo and Borneo. Currently deforestation kills tens of millions of native Australian animals each year, while harming the land, polluting rivers, contributing to climate change and damaging the Great Barrier Reef. ²

The Tree Projects do amazing work exploring the forests, especially in logging areas, to discover giant trees like The Centurion Tree, in order to protect them. Find out more here.

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Know the score: Among Giants

1. Images used in this video.
• The two in which I appear by Gypsy Lehmann.
• The Centurion Tree at 2:00 by Steven Pearce from The Tree Projects. Check out their efforts to save these giant trees and the amazing photographs of other giants from around the world.
• The three deforestation photos at 4:10 by Matt Palmer
• The rest were taken my me.

2. Source: https://www.greenpeace.org.au/our-work/forests/australian-deforestation/