The Tree of Life

Liza LIM
Born 1966, Perth, Australia

The Tree of Life (2001)

orchestra
Commissioned by Südwestrundfunk for Donaueschinger Musiktage 2001
Published by Ricordi, catalogue 138796
(Withdrawn by composer)

1. Questions for the unborn (4.5')
2. Speak, be silent (11.5')

When I write music, what is it that I `aim for´ or `intend´? Often, it seems to me that music has a mind of its own. Whilst I begin with plans of channelling a work in certain directions, in the course of writing, the music begins to generate its own demands and questions, pulling one into unforeseen areas.

Calligraphy (a dynamic-contemplative performance mode); archaeology (the study of the sedimentations of time) and the ritual and symbolic use of numbers in Chinese culture: these are some of the areas from which I draw inspiration. The sonic world of my music often takes its cues from observations of the microscopic `inner life´ of sounds, of the idiosyncratic aspects of instrumental physicality and the erotic-tactile relationship that musicians have with their instruments.

But ultimately, I feel the music itself is not the primary `material´ of my work. More importantly for me, it is a means by which I offer to a listener a way of listening with heightened attention. The music plays out its energies in time and space and simultaneously, a parallel world of `not-music´ is constructed. One could call this a kind of `silence´, a paradoxical presence towards which the music points.

The Tree of Life is a memorial tribute to Franco DONATONI (1927-2000) and quotes three silent bars from his penultimate composition Prom. This six-second gap occurs in the score of Prom marking where Donatoni became too ill to continue writing. He created this separation and then began to dictate the last section of the work to his assistants.

Speak, be silent

Just remember, when you're in union,
You don't have to fear
that you'll be drained.

The command comes to Speak
and you feel the ocean
moving through you.

Then comes, be silent
as when the rain stops,
and the trees in the orchard,
begin to draw water
up into themselves.

-- Jelaludin Rumi (1207-1273)
(Extract from the Mathnawi, translation by Coleman Barks)

`To speak´ and `to be silent´ can be understood as transitional positions in a cyclic movement between loss and gain -- both open out into unbounded spaces in which one might address questions to the unborn.

Programme note © 2001 Liza LIM