Julia Wolfe's oratorio unEarth, which premiered in the UK last weekend, grappled with the climate crisis but ultimately veered into heavy-handed territory. The concert featured a young choir, the Finchley Children's Music Group, alongside the BBC Singers and National Youth Voices, all of whom sang from memory with impressive precision.
The visual spectacle, courtesy of Lucy Mackinnon's projections on a circular screen, added to the emotional impact of the music. Images of waves and water materialized as the men sang lines from the Book of Genesis about the devastating Flood, accompanied by violent rain showers that made even the wind players seem rapturous. The second movement was equally striking, with the singers singing "tree" in dozens of languages, each word sparking sudden life like a burst of cross-rhythms.
However, it was in the final movement that unEarth's message felt most forced. Teenagers appeared on screen alongside the Finchley Children's Music Group, intoning lines including "I take the bus". This felt overly didactic and weighed down by what can only be described as climate-science buzzwords sung in thudding syllables.
Wolfe's music had already shown its potential for environmental themes in the first half of the concert, where Copland's Appalachian Spring provided a serene counterpoint. The score's simple yet powerful clarinet and flute solos evoked nature's resilience with an effortless beauty that was hard to match.
Ultimately, while unEarth made some striking impressions on the way, its tackling of climate breakdown felt heavy-handed, leaving one wondering whether it placed too much emphasis on the shoulders of children to fix the mess left by their elders.
The visual spectacle, courtesy of Lucy Mackinnon's projections on a circular screen, added to the emotional impact of the music. Images of waves and water materialized as the men sang lines from the Book of Genesis about the devastating Flood, accompanied by violent rain showers that made even the wind players seem rapturous. The second movement was equally striking, with the singers singing "tree" in dozens of languages, each word sparking sudden life like a burst of cross-rhythms.
However, it was in the final movement that unEarth's message felt most forced. Teenagers appeared on screen alongside the Finchley Children's Music Group, intoning lines including "I take the bus". This felt overly didactic and weighed down by what can only be described as climate-science buzzwords sung in thudding syllables.
Wolfe's music had already shown its potential for environmental themes in the first half of the concert, where Copland's Appalachian Spring provided a serene counterpoint. The score's simple yet powerful clarinet and flute solos evoked nature's resilience with an effortless beauty that was hard to match.
Ultimately, while unEarth made some striking impressions on the way, its tackling of climate breakdown felt heavy-handed, leaving one wondering whether it placed too much emphasis on the shoulders of children to fix the mess left by their elders.
The visual stuff was cool, I'll give them that 
. But did they really need to make everything so obvious? Like, come on, singing "I take the bus" just to hammer home the point about climate change? It felt like they were trying too hard to be eco-friendly instead of letting the music speak for itself 
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. That piece is beautiful and evocative in its own way. Maybe Julia Wolfe could've left the climate change stuff to someone else and focused on creating something truly special, you know? 
. The music itself is gorgeous, especially those clarinet and flute solos 
. But when it started trying to lecture about climate change 
, it just got a bit too much. I'm all for making awareness, but sometimes less is more, you know? 
Those teenagers on screen singing "I take the bus" felt like they were being forced to be the messengers of environmentalism 
. And the whole thing with the children's choir and the visuals was super impressive 
, but it could've been left out if Wolfe wanted to focus more on the music itself 
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. and don't even get me started on the way they used those kids in the final movement... it felt like a total PSA 
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and we ended up at this crazy quirky coffee shop that had a playlist of weird 80s jams... like, who puts Bon Jovi next to Fleetwood Mac? Anyway, got me thinking about how our society's obsession with climate change is kinda like having too many tabs open on your browser - it's all over the place and needs some serious filtering out 
I mean, climate change is literally the biggest issue we're facing right now and I loved the idea of Julia Wolfe tackling it head-on 
That Lucy Mackinnon's projections are insane 
But yeah, the final movement felt like a total info dump 
Overall, though, Wolfe's score was gorgeous & evoked some powerful emotions. Just wish it didn't hit you over the head with climate facts so much 
but the last bit felt super preachy 
like they were trying way too hard to hammer home the climate message 
anyhoo, worth checking out if you're into that sorta thing 
But that final movement, with all those kids singing about taking the bus... it felt like a big lesson being forced down our throats, you know? 
. Where's the subtlety in environmental themes? Can't music just evoke feelings and emotions without being so... didactic?
Also, I loved the Appalachian Spring part though - that was some soothing, naturey vibes 
And what's up with using teenagers to drive home the point? Like, don't get me wrong, they're great and all, but shouldn't we be looking at the bigger picture here? The adults got this...