Symphonia Botanica

Symphonia Botanica is a secular oratorio, alternating solo, choral, orchestral, and electronic parts to narrate stories and facts inspired by the plant world. The work updates the principle of polychoral music by adding a mini-speaker orchestra to the orchestral groups. Immersive listening places the audience in the center of a forest of sounds. The presence of children reinforces the coexistence between different age groups, illustrating relationships of cooperation and symbiosis among plants.

Principles of vocal-instrumental writing:
1) The orchestra as a network of distributed intelligence.
Spatialized and rich writing that alternates between different formations: solo groups, tutti, orchestral groups, and polychoral arrangements following the model of a Baroque passion.
2) Guiding thread: a narrative inspired by research in neurobotany and ethnobotany as well as stories from indigenous peoples, as well as testimonies collected by the composer during her creative residencies in Brazil.
3) Its modular organization allows for additions, collaborations in dialogue with local groups in an expanding form.
4) A spatial and immersive experience thanks to the arrangement of orchestral groups, as well as the distributed electroacoustic diffusion system (small speakers manipulated and moved in the hands of children).

The first part of the project was commissioned by Inhotim Institute (Inhotim music school, Inhotim Orchestra, directed by Leandro Oliveira under the pedagogical coordination Letícia Coelho.

Second part partners : l'Ensemble l'Itinéraire, Sao Pedro Opera Theater, OCAM Orchestra