Crown of Flames is a work for 12-part mixed choir a cappella, and sets the text of Brian Sonia-Wallace on the themes of survival, adaptation, and renewal. Pyrophytes (from the Greek pyro = fire + phyte = plant) are plants that resist fire or even require it to propagate. Passive pyrophites have thick bark or insulating tissue, while active pyrophites produce flammable oils to help spread fires and so eliminate competing trees. The most extreme pyrophytes, knows as pyrophiles (“flame lovers”), require the extreme heat of fire for their seeds to start growing, breaking soil when all the surrounding vegetation and dead leaves have been burnt and they can access the forest floor’s scarcest resource — sunlight. Unlike forest birds and animals, which can flee fires, pyrophytic plants have adapted not only to withstand them, but to use them to their advantage.

The idea for this piece came about when Salvatore Diana approached me to write a work for The Salvatones’ spring concert on the topic of climate change. Both Brian and I live in Southern California, where we are subject to seasonal wildfires that trigger evacuations and cause massive destruction. Climate change creates an arid atmosphere that is warmer, drier, and prone to drought, which causes forest fires to be more active. Looking at the ways that native species have evolved through centuries to withstand fire, we thought this would be a perfect metaphor to deliver the message of resilience, adaptation, and renewal through destruction.

Crown of Flames is commissioned by The Salvatones for their “Many Sounds of Spring” concert.