Melody Eötvös On The Majesty Of Her Tree-Inspired Piano Trio

Melody Eötvös ‘absolutely loves’ trees! So, it’s not surprising that trees have been the inspiration for several pieces by this popular contemporary Australian composer. Her tree-inspired piano trio, Regnare will receive its world premiere when pianist Aura Go, cellist Timo-Veikko Valve and violinist Kristian Winther join forces for their Beethoven’s ‘Ghost’ concert presented by Musica Viva and touring nationally in May.

Born in 1984 in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Eötvös is now based in Melbourne and is a Senior Lecturer in Music in Composition, Aural Studies and Orchestration at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, The University of Melbourne.

The seed for Regnare was sown, so to speak, with a copy of Tim Low’s best-selling award-winning 2014 book Where Song Began. “It’s about birding” explains Eötvös. “A friend gifted me the book which has an entire chapter on trees because birds absolutely love these particular trees. I have often had trees as my inspiration for a piece of music. I went over some of the other pieces in my catalogue and quite a few of them connect back to trees which was a really nice revelation.”

The tree which fired Eötvös’ imagination was the giant ash, or mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans), of Victoria and Tasmania, one of the largest species in the world, which grows to a height of about 90 meters (300 feet) and a circumference of 7.5 meters (24.5 feet).

“It is the tallest tree species in Australia” continues Eötvös “and amazingly requires fire in order to regenerate. The seeds need fire, to be released from their pods. The fire also clears out the competition so that the seeds can then fall. The ash is full of nutrients and creates the optimal conditions for the seeds to germinate, which is quite incredible” she marvels.

There is a sense of majesty and awe in the way Eötvös speaks of this botanical phenomenon whose name, regnans, is derived from the Latin word regnare, which means ‘to rule’.

“It’s a strange conflict in survival because we need the fire so that the tree can perpetuate itself. These trees are rulers in their own right; they live to an average of 400 years so there’s an incredible life span and magnitude and royalty based on endurance.”

Describing what audiences can expect from Regnare, Eötvös muses “It’s very energetic and intense. Even during its quieter more romantic themes there is still an underlying push and intensity and pulse. But overall, it comes down to the expressivity of the musicians and how they lean into it, so I feel like it’s sometimes really loud and they’re playing it at tempo, which is amazing, but that’s my fault for writing with that intensity. It has a lot of momentum and drive and quite an accessible palate. I wouldn’t say its tonal, but it’s got my characteristic modal feel, very much driven by rhythm which makes it very catchy.”

Lasting about ten minutes, Eötvös has not built the trio around set movements, but progresses through her themes, still creating a clear connection between the content presented early in the piece and what returns in a recapitulation.

Intertwined with the botanical themes in her writing, are Eötvös’ intentions to observe socio-political events, focusing on power-seekers and short-term gains as well as ideas around humans managing their own existence and how we can learn from our mistakes.

“It’s all one movement – a gentle development through different ideas, but the initial idea absolutely comes back. The recapitulation aims to present the themes as though we’ve learnt from experience and become better. The aim though, is to feel like it doesn’t have a formal structure because when I write music, I write beginning to end. I don’t really plan it out I just let the instincts take over and what happens, happens.”

“There was a complex web of all these connections but keeping it rooted in nature was really important” she adds.

The hands-down advantage of being a living composer is the opportunity to collaborate with the musicians who are going to perform your piece. Commissioned by Music Viva Australia, Eötvös broke the ground on the task around January 2025. The workshopping between Eötvös and the trio began quite early in the development of the project.

A cellist herself, Eötvös has a special empathy with trio cellist Timo-Veikko Valve with whom she has worked extensively in the past. “I’ve worked with Tipi before quite extensively. He’s championed a previous piece of mine, Meraki which was performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra in Finland in 2025. I know Tipi really well, how he plays and what he likes” says Eötvös, also describing pianist Go as a kindred spirit, adding “I got to know the way that Kristian plays from watching a lot of recordings of him. So, there are varying degrees of familiarity with the ensemble.”

“After the second time with them in Sydney and explaining what was going in the piece, rehearsing and having great conversations about it, the ideas got much clearer. The musicians responded really well to having more descriptions about the music, its feel and character. It made me also dig deep and think about each of the sections and how they connect and the importance of that definite ‘recap.’ Yes! You can recognise that it is a ‘recap’, and you can recognise that the material has more weight, more maturity and knowledge. They recognised that and played differently with more complexity – the ideas have grown, and it reinforced the ideas of repetition, trying to learn a lesson and going back over it again and again and maybe, one day, learning something from it.”

Despite the potential for using extended instrumental techniques in Regnare, Eötvös has been cautious in using them. “There are a few little ones because they’re not for show, but very much an inherent part of the sound. In one particular spot I have Tipi bowing a pedal note of crotchets on a lower string and digging into the string at the frog of the bow, pushing into it and raising it a ¼ tone, which is quite difficult to but it sounds great; there’s some sul ponticello (bowing on the bridge of the instrument), and some pretty standard, modern timbral techniques.”

As for the piano, the keyboard part is conventional in technique. “I’m very careful about doing ‘inside piano’ stuff, especially if there’s’ a Steinway involved’ she laughs. “I know the musicians and I know what Musica Viva are looking for in this program with Beethoven and Ravel. It’s good to be aware of how to treat pianos and other instruments and what you’re allowed to do with those instruments.”

With over 20 orchestral pieces to her name, Eötvös admits her favourite configuration of instruments is larger rather smaller. “It’s hard to resist writing for an orchestra because they have the biggest sound, the most variety and colour. But after hearing a piece like Regnare and hearing it played by these powerful musicians with their combined virtuosity, who are working in a chamber context but who are also soloists in their own right, you’re getting this magical combination of superstar characters as individuals combined into the ultimate ensemble. At the moment I’m going to have to say the piano trio is my favourite form!”

Shamistha de Soysa for SoundsLikeSydney©