Fireweed blooming in the burn area from the 2021 Horne Fire.
COURTESY NATHAN CORNELIUS
Isle Royale Reflection
In my two weeks on Isle Royale, it was wonderful to get to know one little corner of nature so intimately— the big eagle nest with its two hungry young birds, the loons teaching their chick to dive for minnows, where the best blueberries grow on Scoville Point, and which fungi have burst through the forest floor since the last rain shower. I am extremely grateful my wife Caitlyn could join me for this time, and she helped me notice more such moments of wonder than I could on my own.
The soundscape of Isle Royale is one of calm and spaciousness. The wind and waves were rarely loud during our stay; some days, even the open water beyond the point was perfectly flat. At places along Tobin Harbor, sheltered by the woods, the silence is profound and seems to press against your ears. Tobin Harbor also forms an echo chamber for any birds that call over the water; loons, cranes, and ravens all receive a magical reverb effect. The only human sounds heard regularly are the seaplanes, and the narration on the Sandy tours.
In working on my music during and after the residency, I pondered: How do you capture the sinister crackling of forest fire with musical instruments? What about the eerie glissando cry of the loon, or the raspy arpeggio of the cranes? Is there a way to ask musicians for sounds that suggest the pervasive absence sound through and around them? Silence and space are things I still need more of in my music.
- Nathan Cornelius, 2022
Artist's Work
Mount Franklin Fire
a musical composition for flute and vibraphone in five movements, capturing the onset and aftermath of the 2022 Mount Franklin Fire at Isle Royale National Park
"Mount Franklin Fire" is a musical composition for flute and vibraphone in five movements, capturing the onset and aftermath of the 2022 Mount Franklin Fire at Isle Royale National Park
(start to 5:04) Movement 1: Spruce Forest - Warning of the Cranes Before the fire, on a hillside overlooking Tobin Creek, the forest is peaceful, with birds and squirrels chirruping, and maybe a moose hiding in the bushes. There we first heard the cranes, depicted in the three-note ascending call which takes the vibraphone part in the middle section. Whenever we saw the cranes after the fire, they always seemed to be flying with a sense of urgency, although their destination was unclear.
(5:04 to 6:33) Movement 2: Smoke Plumes (Canon) Coming back from the Greenstone Ridge, we became increasingly confused and concerned, as we could see and smell smoke coming from somewhere that it probably should not be. Eventually, we turned a corner and saw flames licking through the undergrowth a few yards off the trail. Musically, this interlude gradually transforms the material of the 1st movement into the material of the 3rd movement.
(6:33 to 10:47) Movement 3: Wildland Fire Response The park's response got into motion quickly, as rangers fanned out across that end of the island, both on land and on water, as to determine where the fire was and whether anyone was in danger. This movement portrays the ranger-firefighters who escorted a group of us across the island. Towards the end, it starts to dissolve into the material for the next movement as the mist puts a check on the fire’s growth.
(10:47 to 14:38) Movement 4: Burned Out It was really moving to go back a week later and see the area burned over by the fire, as well as the nearby scar from the Horne Fire the previous year. The ground was mostly ash and soot, and all the trees were scorched skeletons. In the older fire zone, without any grass or plant roots to hold the soil in place, the surface of the ground itself had caved in or slid downhill in places, uncovering glacial boulders and bedrock of the island. However, flowers like fireweed and daisy had sprinkled themselves throughout the entire burn area, making a striking burst of color against the gray and black. This reminded me of the poem "Fire-Flowers" by Emily Pauline Johnson which I had previously written a musical setting of. Out of a sparse beginning, the melody for “Fire-Flowers” gradually emerges.
(14:38 to end) Movement 5: Fire-F(ol)lowers (Fugue) The term fire-followers refers to plants like fireweed that move in quickly to colonize the open space left by a fire. Being a fugue, this movement is based more on purely musical explorations than any specific part of the forest fire narrative. The fugue subject is loosely derived from the "Fire-Flowers" melody, with some ornaments to suggest the blooming and expansion of new plants. The new “florid” version of the melody alternates with the original melody, played slowly by the vibraphone.
Nathan
About the Artist
Nathan Cornelius pursues a multifaceted career in composition, performance, and teaching. Much of his music is inspired by nature and wilderness, and he has been composer-in-residence at Shenandoah National Park and Isle Royale National Park. His works have been performed by the Lamont Symphony Orchestra, Wet Ink Ensemble, and at the World Harp Congress. In 2014, he co-founded Nebula Ensemble, a group dedicated to creating and performing innovative and interdisciplinary chamber music throughout Colorado. His performances and research focus on guitar music of the 20th and 21st centuries and how it reflects cultural conceptions of time and memory. He currently teaches music theory and guitar at the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland—Baltimore County. In both the classroom and the studio, he enjoys sharing with students his enthusiasm for the patterns underlying the structure of music.
