Hello fellow Earthlings. The tenth song of the Plant Songs project is called Betula. If the previous song Music For Trimming Trees, was a throw back to my MSM days, Betula might be a throw back to say 2007-2015. I wrote some similar things back in those days. For Betula I was originally thinking of something a little more diatonic, something a little more major with perhaps a few detours. But as I began, this melody told me otherwise. It contains a lot of major triad arpeggios, but in discombobulated relationships. It may sound pretty random, but as I composed, there definitely became a correct direction to go in - it was almost like using Schoenberg’s 12-tone serial system, wherein the next triad arpeggio needed to contain all different pitches than the previous one. I haven’t analyzed it closely, but I bet I regularly used 9 or 10 pitches before repeating any. As each phrase was completed, I composed the left hand line shortly after. I think of it as a kind of discombobulated 12-bar blues. There’s a statement of about 4 bars, followed by another similar phrase of the same length, followed by a longer and more discombobulated phrase, kind of how a 12-bar blues can be statement, restatement with embellishment, and the resolution.
The title Betula is the taxonomical genus of Birches. I recently discovered a really cool stump sprout of a Betula lenta, common name Sweet Birch or Black Birch, up on Mount Beacon. Birches are known to germinate on old stumps or mossy rocks, and their roots grow over the stump or rock to reach the ground. In the case of a stump sprout, eventually the stump rots away and we’re left with a tree “on stilts” with the main trunk suspended above the ground by roots. I thought it was neat, and I thought the discombobulated melody of this song was neat too, so I decided Betula should be the title.
This morning on my hike I was particularly aware of the Birches along the trail, thinking it would be cool to find some more examples of interesting germination sites. Well, they did not disappoint! I found some examples of rock sprouts, and an example of multiple sprouts on a well-decomposed log. As fallen logs decompose, they become perfect sites for Birch germination, so one can observe a row of newly sprouted Birches. Who says there aren’t straight lines in Nature? The trees in the Betula genus are so fascinating. I recommend you look them up and learn about them for yourself.
Back to the music. There’s a lot of dissonance in Betula; more than in previous songs in the Plant Songs project anyway. If you’re unfamiliar with music with a lot of dissonance, Betula may confuse you. But that’s okay. Just go ahead and be confused. Be as confused as possible. I reckon a little light-hearted confusion can be enjoyable from time to time.
Betula lenta stump sprout on Mount Beacon. Photographed the morning of November 4, 2024.
Several Betula lenta log sprouts. There happens to be a newer fallen tree right on top of the older log buried in the new leaf litter on which these lentas germinated. Photographed November 8, 2024
Betula alleghaniensis / Yellow Birch rock sprout. Photographed November 8, 2024
Interesting Betula alleghaniensis trees growing on rocks at the waterfall known as Rainbow Falls. Photographed November 8, 2024.
A couple Betula alleghaniensis rock sprouts. Photographed November 8, 2024.