CHANGING OF THE SEASONS

Orchestra Of The Swan highlight the effects of climate change in their latest classical offering...

by Steve Adams

Orchestra Of The Swan’s Earthcycle is an intriguing mix of live music, lighting effects and film footage, all designed to highlight the issue of climate change. Artistic Director David Le Page reveals the inspiration behind the production, which is based around Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons but also aims to celebrate both nature and humanity’s place within it.

Last month the Met Office revealed that Britain experienced its hottest year on record in 2022, claiming that human-induced climate change had made what would normally be a once-in-500-year event likely to happen every three or four years.

The news came as little surprise to David Le Page, artistic director of the Stratford-uponAvon-based Orchestra Of The Swan (OOTS), who has been working on a musical piece to highlight the issue of climate change ever since he experienced something akin to one of those once-in-500-year events himself.

“I live in Kibworth in Leicestershire, and in July 2021 we had this unbelievable, very localised hailstorm, with hailstones the size of golf balls. I’d taken my wife’s car to work that day, and when I got back to the village in the evening, I thought there’d been some disastereverywhere was flooded and my own car was pock-marked with dents from these incredible hailstones.

“I wondered if this was just a freak weather event or a more ominous sign of disturbing changes in our climate. Last summer’s heatwaves, melting rails and flooding got me thinking about it even more, and I wanted to do something with the orchestra, as that seemed like a really good focus for it.”

The resulting show is Earthcycle, a musical contemplation of humanity’s impact on the Earth’s environment and natural rhythms.

The work features two renditions of Vivaldi’s celebrated masterpiece, The Four Seasons - a traditional performance and a specially commissioned version by baroque/jazz musician & composer David Gordon.

The rationale for using Vivaldi’s popular violin concerti goes beyond the fact that their titles follow the four changing seasons, not least because the seasons themselves are changing, says David.

“The idea is to get a conversation going about climate change in a musical way, so Earthcycle is like a Four Seasons for the 21st century.

“Climate change and the climate crisis is something arts organisations need to find a way of talking about. We play The Four Seasons a lot because it’s one of the most popular pieces and a great gateway piece for audiences and people who aren’t usually interested in classical music.

“Vivaldi’s music is also very descriptive - in fact he wrote in the score, over various bits, that it’s all about the weather, but people don’t realise how explicitly about the weather it is. For example, there’s one movement where he conveys the bubbling movement of a beautiful stream, and in the background there’s a dog barking.”

The Earthcycle concert will have a deliberate spring-summer-autumn-winter structure and feature four traditional folk songs performed by Jackie Oates. Each will be followed by, first, one of David Gordon’s edgier, ‘post-climate change’ versions of The Four Seasons, and then by one of the conventional versionswhich coincidentally celebrate their 300th anniversary this year.

It’s a mix with a message, according to David.

“On the one hand there’s this appreciation of nature - there have always been storms and everything - but then David Gordon’s version is this extreme climate-change-driven version. I think it’s good to put The Four Seasons in that context, because it’s a piece that’s performed a lot because it’s so popular and so brilliant, but it’s good to have that alongside something else that’s trying to tell the story of our climate, the weather and how it’s changed from 300 years ago.”

Subtle lighting changes and film footageshown on a Pink Floyd-style circular screen suspended behind the musicians - will also help convey the message, but when I ask if the visuals will be apocalyptic end-of-the-worldtype horror movies, David seizes on the opportunity to make a point about the difficulty in truly engaging with people.

“One of the problems with the climate change conversation is all the terrifying headlines, and I think people sometimes feel that they can’t do anything. There’s only so many times you can be told you’re doomed before you stop listening.

“We’re certainly not lecturing people. We want to give people a good time, so they’ve come to a beautiful performance that’s immersive and mesmerising - that’s the whole point - but there is a message that people can see on screen but also hear in the music as well.”

David’s also a firm believer in the ‘every little helps’ approach and says the orchestra will be engaging with schools and other community organisations to encourage people to believe that they can make a difference.

“I think the public want to know what they can do, which is why we’re working with primary schools and others. Doing the little things is important because sometimes you can feel a little bit helpless with it all.”

David has also arranged the performance so that the jazz/baroque reimagining of the seasons comes before the more relaxed, traditional versions, to offer a sense of hope that things can return to normal.

“There’s definitely a message of hope and that we can do something, but also from a musician’s point of view, I’m always thinking that Vivaldi is this incredibly exhilarating piece that’s good to have as a finisher, so it’s always last in the sequence.

“The jazz versions could be a little uncomfortable, but you always go back to the safety of Vivaldi that you know so well. And Winter is an amazing finisher and the best way to end the performance for the audience.” That ‘uncomfortable’ element is something David revels in but realises won’t be to everyone’s taste. And while he accepts that some traditionalists might baulk at messing with an established classical masterpiece, mixing genres and embracing other styles of music has been his modus operandi since taking over as OOTS’ artistic director in 2018.

“It’s something I’m playing with all the time because I’m interested in presenting different music and music from other genres - mixing pop and jazz and contemporary edgy music; I’m fascinated by all that. I don’t want to alienate the audience too much, but there are always going to be people who are not interested or just don’t get it, and that’s fine.

“But I’m also hoping to attract a slightly different audience as well - people who come for different reasons. The classical music world can sometimes be quite insular and feel like an elite club, and I’ve never liked that aspect to it. I love the idea that the music is brilliant and open to everybody - but people have to feel like they are included, and I think these types of shows are a great way of doing that.”

Earthcycle plays at Stratford Playhouse, Stratford-upon-Avon, on Tuesday 7 February; Number 8 Pershore on Friday 10 February; and Drapers’ Hall, Coventry, on Thursday 9 March