Towards the Light
Lessons from trees: 5. Nourishment
Towards the Light for string orchestra, piano, harp and French horn1
This is a demo recording for my upcoming album I Stand Silent | Six meditations on the life of trees. Orchestral music for meditation and contemplation.
Discover more about this project…
I was going to release a different piece of music this month, but this one seems more appropriate. I want to dedicate it to Bonnie, our family dog and my confidant and walking companion for the past 13 years.
Yesterday on our walk she decided it would be her last. For the first time in her life she was the one who chose to turn around and head home. She was done. I would have to carry her the rest of the way. Later that day, she was gone.
Bonnie, whether you are heading towards the light or simply returning your borrowed atoms to the universe, you made our lives here at the Little House much better, and that’s a life well lived…this one’s for you.
A life’s work
Nourished, a seed emerges, drawn to the light. This shoot, transforms into a seedling in search of more light. The seedling morphs into a light-seeking sapling. The sapling, reaching up to join the canopy of the forest as a mature tree, no longer in the shadow of its elders.
A lot has to go right along the way, but the instinct is there from the beginning – seek the light.
Open sunlight may be seventy, eighty, perhaps a hundred metres above the dark forest floor. To reach it may take decades, even centuries. The odds are slim, but the impulse is unstoppable.
The music
The main theme in the music reflects this constantly rising motion.
The secondary theme also keeps reaching upward.
The answering figure wavers, until finally climbing.
These three musical elements interact throughout the piece. Each one contributing to the sense of upward movement.
Another element is the constantly repeating notes. First in the piano, then joined by the strings. This represents the relentless urge of the seedling, then sapling, to reach the light.
The harp entry suggests momentary shafts of light reaching the forest floor. Pinpricks, piercing through the dense canopy.
The warm tone of the French horn floats in the air, ethereal, not quite grounded.
Recycling ideas
Toward the Light began as part of a larger work I composed, with text by author Phil Cummings, for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. This was performed by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Young Adelaide Voices in 2019.
In the original piece from Space Race, the repeated notes heard in Toward the Light were taken from the signal sent to earth by Sputnik 1, the world’s first satellite. We used the actual recording of this signal in the performance (a perfectly in tune C), and the orchestra played along to it.
The signal from Sputnik 1
I thought that repetitive idea would translate well into this piece. The satellite signal becoming the determined effort of the young plant constantly striving to reach the sunlight.
In composing, as in any creative activity, nothing is wasted. One idea can be recycled and given another life.
By Nature | Light-seekers
Seek the light from dark places Seek the light however remote, however dim Seek the light Because we are, by nature Light-seekers
Know the score: Towards the Light
website: glynlehmann.com music: BandCamp
All images courtesy of artists from Pixabay, unSplash and Pexels.
So very sorry about Bonnie’s passing—that kind of hole is very hard to fill. This is a lovely piece.
Sorry for your loss Glyn. This is a tender and personal reflection and your composition resonates.