A musical setting of the poem, The Man Who Hated Trees, by Naomi Shihab Nye. The music attempts to depict a not-very-nice barber, who not only “spent years shaving the necks of cafeteria managers” but found every excuse he could to justify cutting down trees. The mezzo-soprano is accompanied by English horn or clarinet in A, horn, bassoon, and percussion (wood files rubbed together to simulate, neck shaving and tree sawing.) To aid in coordinating with the vocalist and each other, abundant cues are provided in staves parallel to the staves being played in the instrumental parts. The vocalist sings from the score. You may see and hear the performance in the audio clip by Mimi Braverman, mezzo-soprano, Gary Friedman, English horn, Frank Lahorgue, horn, Karen Wright, bassoon, and Ruth Friedman, percussion, on YouTube
The Man Who Hated Trees
