Three Passions For Our Tortured Planet: an interview with composer Brian Field
Today, as I write this introduction, wild fires are raging in California, the Antartica “Doomsday” glacier is reported to be on the edge of disaster, and a hurricane just swamped Puerto Rico. Yet it seems that news headlines like these, no matter how dire, have become so common that they no longer move us. Or, if they do, we’re left wondering what any individual can do to help change things.
When we become numb to warnings, and when science is dismissed as “political,” words lose their power. Perhaps this is why multi-award winning composer Brian Field chose to bring awareness of the dangers of climate change not through words, but through notes. With Three Passions For Our Tortured Planet, Field’s three movement suite focuses on “Fire,” “Glaciers,” and “Wind.” From the crackle and sparks of fire to the roar of a hurricane, Field achieves his desire to “tap into our emotions and transcend the explicit, the ‘told’ and the intellectual.” And in these immensely listenable pieces, he finds balance between despair and hope.
As part of his commitment to spreading awareness of climate change, Field has been working with concert pianists all over the world to program or record Three Passions For Our Tortured Planet. As of today, 30 have already scheduled or performed it, and over a hundred are working on the music and getting ready to feature the suite in future concerts. The list of pianists keeps growing. Up to this point, concert pianists have been the only participants, but now Field has opened the project to all pianists. The score (and more information about the piece) can be accessed through Passions for Our Tortured Planet. It is an honor to feature Brian Field and this project on No Dead Guys.
You write that you began piano lessons at the age of 8 and soon branched into harpsichord and organ studies, as well as singing in vocal ensembles. When did you first become interested in composition, and who or what influenced this choice?
I started composing early on, trying to get what was in my head out on paper. By the time I was in high school I was writing quite a bit—mostly stylistically imitative pieces—and had the good fortune of meeting a choral director who was also a composer by the name of Steve Wolff. Steve was a highly energetic fellow and a real polymath; he started me on a rigorous foundation of formal composition which hooked me on writing from then on.
You’ve self-described your music as an "eclectic fusion of lyricism and driving rhythm that brings together elements of post-romanticism, minimalism and jazz.” What composers and musical styles most contributed to this unique mix?
That’s really hard to say as I believe composition and nuance of style is frequently coupled to the occasion and ensemble for which any given piece is being written. Nonetheless, music that’s influenced me spans a wide gamut, from Josquin de Prez, J.S. Bach, Brahms to Rachmaninoff, Milton Babbitt, Philip Glass and Charlie Parker.
Your compositions include music for television and stage and for multiple solo instruments and ensembles. In addition, you’ve been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. At what point in this extremely successful career did you feel you needed to create works that highlighted important social issues, and why?
A turning point for me was around the 2016 Presidential election and the following years of heightened nationalism and xenophobia in the US which seems at odds with our country’s founding mission. The following years have only heightened a growing polarization of political opinion which inspired my composition of the satirical work Let’s Build a Wall! This began my shift into more topically and social-inspired composition.
You’ve been quoted as saying, “Music has the unique ability to help articulate the ineffable—a capacity to reach inside and connect with others at a fundamental, deeply emotional level.” How do you feel this belief informs the choices you make when you’re working on projects of social importance?
My earlier statement fundamentally ties to the notion of how artistic mediums—in this case music—can tap into our emotions and transcend the explicit, the “told” and the intellectual. In my Three Passions For Our Tortured Planet, I’ve tried to balance the emotional tension between despair and hope. Despite the angst that raging fires, shearing ice and hurricane-like winds might create, I’ve been purposeful about not driving towards cataclysmic finales, but rather more nuanced and ambiguous conclusions. Any why? Because in this case there is hope—if we act, if we change.
In the past few years, many works have been created around social issues. Some are powerfully effective; some slide into trite musical propaganda. What keeps works around social issues from suffering musically in support of the cause?
Certainly, there is some amount of new music today, and not just focused on social issues, that might be considered trite or gimmicky. Plenty of that abounds—and not just in the field of music. In the end, it’s not merely the idea or message but also the craftsmanship of any particular work that creates a more lasting impression.
I discovered your piano music through the award-winning Three Passions For Our Tortured Planet, a three-movement solo piano suite highlighting the dangers of climate change. How did this piece come to be, and why do you feel it’s an important part of the discussion around climate change?
My thinking around a musical message on the topic of climate change was driven by the astonishing number of people I encountered who were in denial of what is happening to our environment. Artists across any number of mediums can help keep this increasingly urgent issue on the forefront of people’s minds, supporting that discussion and (hopefully) driving behavioral change.
I began working on the piece in 2019 as I was having discussions with South Korean pianist and Sony Artist Kay Kyung Eun Kim who is also a Juilliard graduate. She gravitated toward the message of the work and we collaborated on it for her subsequent Steinway Hall recital in Seoul the following year.
Would you be willing to tell us a little bit more about the three movements of Three Passions For Our Tortured Planet that you’ve named “Fire,” Glaciers,” and “Wind”? Why these three examples of climate change?
I chose to focus in on areas of climate change that are particularly visible and impactful. The first of the three movements (“…fire…”) is a reflection on the forest fires raging across California and the American West on a recurring, and increasingly alarming basis. The work starts with a “spark,” that flickers and quickly spreads, growing more complicated. The fire begins to rage loudly, and across register, building to a climax which eventually becomes more controlled, as it burns itself out and dies.
The second movement (“…glaciers…”) is a distant, stately movement that depicts the enormous ices on earth’s poles. These slow, ponderous moments are sporadically interrupted by rapidly falling, thundering episodes, depicting the shearing of the glacial ice with ever-warming temperatures. It is alarming to say the least to observe the rapidly shrinking size of large glaciers around the world which is elevating our sea levels and causing a host of other issues, including costal flooding.
The third movement of the set is titled “…winds…”. This virtuosic finale begins with running winds that become increasingly intense and hurricane/typhoon-like in its destructiveness before dissipating into a barely noticeable breeze.
It seems that no matter how clearly science spells out the dangers of climate change, a large number of people simply don’t care or outright disbelieve in the dangers we’re facing. Do you think it’s possible to change minds through music when appeals to reason have failed? If so, how?
It really is quite astounding, I agree, and yet there are still some people who believe the earth is flat. Holistically, the only way to drive social change is to create awareness which then supports modifications in behavior; and with broad behavioral change comes commercial adoption.You can see some of that happening with the 2035 ban of new fossil fuel vehicles in California and the several states that are considering similar measures.
The arts are a way of creating amplification of this message of needed change in ways that stimulate the discussion and support this awareness-to-action cycle. It’s not any single touchpoint, but the gathering and increasing cadence of such messages that will support the changes.
After its 2021 debut by South Korean pianist and Sony Artist Kay Kyung Eun Kim, you’ve made the score available through the project’s website, Passions for Our Tortured Planet, and are now collaborating with pianists all over the world to perform and record this piece. How has the response been, and how many pianists are currently involved?
The response to the project has been remarkable and heartening to find so many pianists from around the world who are choosing to participate. As of this writing, there are thirty who have formally scheduled or have already recorded/performed, though there is another group of over one hundred who are still working the piece into their schedules. Some are planning live recital presentations, some are recording the work for social media amplification and there are a handful now who are currently planning on a commercial recording of the work later this year and in early 2023.
Are you only including professional pianists, or may accomplished amateur pianists participate in this project?
While up to this point the focus has been on concert pianists, I welcome any and all who wish to participate and carry forward this message.
What current or future projects are you most excited about?
I’ve got a few other projects happening right now which I’m enthusiastic about: the first is on the subject of gun violence in the US for voice and orchestra, and the second is a collection for voice and chamber ensemble on the excesses of the US which is a bit of a satirical piece and should be quite fun.
What advice do you offer to young composers who wish to use their musicianship to help create social awareness?
My advice would be to dive in headfirst and follow your passion when it comes to supporting the social issues you want to advance; find others who can help support you and be relentless in pursuit of what you believe.
Brian Field’s music is an eclectic fusion of lyricism and driving rhythm that brings together elements of post-romanticism, minimalism and jazz that Gramophone notes “has a winning melodic flow and harmonic translucency,” and Fanfare comments “stretches tonality to and beyond its limits, but always in a soaring, lyrical manner.”
He has received a host of awards, including a McKnight Foundation Fellowship, the Benenti Foundation recording prize; First Prize, Briar Cliff Choral Music Competition; and First Prize, Victor Herbert ASCAP Young Composers’ Contest among dozens of others.
Mr. Field began his musical endeavors at age eight with the study of piano, and began his first serious compositional efforts at sixteen, earning his undergraduate degree in music and English literature from Connecticut College, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. At Connecticut, he studied composition with Noel Zahler, piano with the Polish pedagogue Zosia Jacynowicz, organ with John Anthony, and harpsichord/figured-bass realization with Linda Skernick.
Devoting himself to composition, Mr. Field continued his musical studies at the Juilliard School in New York City where he was awarded his Master of Music degree. At Juilliard he was a student of Milton Babbitt. From Juilliard, Mr. Field attended Columbia University, earning his Doctorate. At Columbia, he was a President’s Fellow and studied composition with George Edwards and Mario Davidovsky.
Mr. Field’s compositions include music for television and stage; solo acoustic, chamber, ballet, choral, vocal, electroacoustic and orchestral works. His compositions have been performed extensively throughout the United States and internationally.