A Murmur in the Trees at Silverwood Park by Eve Beglarian [4K]

A Murmur in the Trees by Eve Beglarian
Presented by Zeitgeist and produced by Nick Gaudette
Recorded live in performance August 20, 2024 at Silverwood Park in Minneapolis

Audio, video, editing by Philip Blackburn
Additional camera, Hendri Corea

A Murmur in the Trees is a half hour piece by Eve Beglarian for twenty-four double basses to play in a grove of trees. The title is inspired by a poem by Emily Dickinson. The music was created by treating a piece of birch bark as a musical score, where the lines on the birch bark are notes that are read at the rate of one-third inch per minute, said to be the speed at which plant signals travel. The y-axis has been mapped to notes in the overtone series, so the basses are playing open strings and up to seven harmonics above each string, creating a palette of 32 possible pitches.

There is no score of the piece in standard notation. Performers listen to audio guide tracks that give them the information they need to play the piece. Parts range in difficulty so that even very beginning students and amateur community members can participate alongside professional musicians.

PLAYERS
Andrew Meyer
Kat Meyer
Mats Wogstad
Reid Hegland
Zayne Schmitt
Chris Bates
Peggy Burns
Tom Pieper
Jessica Laven Johnson
Matt Blake
Jack Reynertson
Kellie Nitz
Drew Miller
Bob Delage
Tom Kanthak
Maddie Thies
Marlo Williams
Rolf Ehrdal
John Jerney
Joseph Barron
Lauren Riedel
Erik Fratzke
Matt Pearson
Nick Gaudette