Duration: 20 minutes | Composed: 2020 | Commissioned by Inventi Ensemble (Melissa Doecke and Ben Opie) | World Premiere: Melbourne Recital Centre 2022.

SCORE SAMPLE

This piece is inspired by the Italo Calvino novel “The Baron in the Trees”. Cosimo di Rondo is a young Italian nobleman who rebels against his parents by climbing into the trees and remaining there for the rest of his life. This rebellion was completely unplanned and Cosimo adapts to this existence with ease and efficiency. The musical work reflects the spontaneous transition into the trees from a heavy, more worldly based beginning, into a lighter set of variations based on the opening material. While intended as a concertante-like piece that features the flute and oboe, the strings often also play a central role in the thematic and textural content.