sgroliwch i lawr am y Gymraeg
Sound artist Cheryl Beer composes music in collaboration with the biorhythms of nature. We first made contact when her remarkable ‘rainforest symphony’, Cân y Coed, was launched at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in 2022, and were delighted to support the development of the work’s orchestration through our Lottery funds. Here we’re sharing the first in a collection of Cheryl’s blogs on developing process…
This is the first in a collection of 4 blogs to journal & share the journey of my professional development in the hope that it may help others who, like me, need to explore innovative solutions when facing challenges within their creative practice.
For 18 months, my Rainforest Symphony, Cân y Coed / Song of the Trees has been touring internationally, raising awareness of fragile ecologies through music composed from the biorhythms beneath the bark of trees. You can read about Cân y Coed by browsing back through my blog posts.
In December 2023, Cân y Coed completed the tour by exhibiting at the Houses of Parliament & the Inaugural Festival of Silence adjacent to Hyde Park. From the start, I had set a clear intention: to empower the rainforests of Wales so that they can raise awareness of themselves, through their own voice. The global reach of the tour that unfolded was way beyond anything I could have imagined.
However, I have a dream that drives me further with the work, to engage musicians with the Symphony so that ensembles can come together and play the Song of the Trees, almost as if they are rainforests themselves. The problem is that I composed Cân y Coed on a single instrument, the piano. I did this to tailor around my hyperacusis, a condition that is associated with my hearing loss and tinnitus. It means that I am excluded from Orchestrated music because literally one instrument might trigger the hyperacusis and render me very unwell. It feels like chalk squeaking down a blackboard. My central nervous system responds aggressively but instead of it being just for the duration of the sound, the feeling stays with me. Recently, I had a 4-week spike which meant I couldn’t even speak without it being painful.
Dyma'r cyntaf o gasgliad o 4 blog a fydd yn cofnodi a rhannu taith fy natblygiad proffesiynol – yn y gobaith y gall helpu pobl eraill sydd, fel finnau’n gorfod chwilio am atebion arloesol wrth wynebu heriau yn eu hymarfer creadigol.
Ers 18 mis, mae fy Symffoni'r Coedwigoedd Glaw, Cân y Coed / Song of the Trees wedi bod yn teithio'n rhyngwladol, gan godi ymwybyddiaeth o ecolegau bregus trwy gerddoriaeth a gyfansoddwyd o'r biorhythmau dan risgl coed. Gallwch ddarllen am Gân y Coed drwy bori trwy fy mhostiadau blog blaenorol.
Yn Rhagfyr 2023, gorffennodd taith Cân y Coed drwy arddangos yn y Senedd yn Llundain ac yn yr Ŵyl Dawelwch Agoriadol gerllaw yn Hyde Park. O'r cychwyn cyntaf, roeddwn wedi pennu bwriad clir, sef grymuso coedwigoedd glaw Cymru fel y gallant godi ymwybyddiaeth o'u hunain trwy eu llais eu hun. Roedd cyrhaeddiad byd-eang y daith a ddilynodd ymhell y tu hwnt i unrhyw beth y byddwn wedi'i ddychmygu.
Fodd bynnag, mae gen i freuddwyd sy'n fy ngyrru ymhellach gyda'r gwaith – i ennyn diddordeb cerddorion yn y Symffoni fel y gall ensembles ddod at ei gilydd a chwarae Cân y Coed, bron fel pe byddent yn goedwigoedd glaw eu hunain. Y broblem yw fy mod wedi cyfansoddi Cân y Coed ar un offeryn, y piano. Gwnes i hyn i ymaddasu â’m hyperacusis, cyflwr sy'n gysylltiedig â cholli fy nghlyw a chael tinitws. Mae'n golygu nad wyf yn gallu cymryd rhan mewn cerddoriaeth Offerynnol oherwydd gallai ond un offeryn yn llythrennol sbarduno'r hyperacusis a'm gwneud yn anhwylus iawn. Mae'n teimlo fel sialc yn crafu ar fwrdd du. Mae fy mhrif system nerfol yn ymateb yn gryf iawn, ond yn hytrach na phara dim ond nes i'r sŵn stopio, mae'r teimlad yn aros gyda mi. Yn ddiweddar, cefais sbigyn a barodd bythefnos a olygai nad oeddwn yn gallu siarad hyd yn oed am ei fod mor boenus.