The Sparrow’s Ledger – Q&A with composer Michael Oesterle
Michael Oesterle, composer
The National Broadcast Orchestra is not just about creating an ensemble that all Canadians can call their own.  It is also about bringing the music of our country’s composers to audiences coast-to-coast.
The tradition begins with Michael Oesterle’s The Sparrow’s Ledger, which receives its world premiere at the January 8 Gala Benefit Concert at Vancouver’s Chan Centre.
Inspired by the survival instinct of the most common bird on Earth, the Montreal-based composer says his new symphony is also a testament to the tenacity of the people who resurrected Canada’s broadcast orchestra.
Tell me about your relationship with conductor Alain Trudel and the National Broadcast Orchestra of Canada.
Alain has conducted my music with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.  It’s always a very positive experience.
We were spending a little time together after a concert there this past spring.  Just before Alain left he said: We’re reviving the National Broadcast Orchestra and I would like you to be the first person to write a piece for us.  It didn’t go any further, but he called in the summer to say, “We’re on and I need something quickly.”  So I wrote the first movement (of The Sparrow’s Ledger) and he secured the commission from the CBC.
What was the inspiration for this symphony?
The inspiration came from that conversation with Alain Trudel.  When you are working with someone you know you can collaborate more easily.  That’s how I feel about Alain.  Before you even write the piece you know he’s going to be enthusiastic about it.  So I didn’t think so much about writing contemporary music as simply writing music for an orchestra.
Sometimes you come up with a title, like The Sparrow’s Ledger, and you can already imagine the finished piece.  The four principle string players have a fluttering quality throughout the work.  That could be an image of the sparrow – but this is not a symphony about birds!
I was keen to link the survival spirit of the sparrow to the obvious survival spirit of these people putting this orchestra back together. Â And I was also interested in the idea of this ledger keeping a tally of everyday life.
You moved to Canada from Germany as a teenager. What is it like to be a Canadian classical composer?
It’s fantastic. It’s the best place to live and work as an artist. We have an enormous diversity of artistic styles and we all get along famously. We don’t feel like we have to serve a single doctrine. The freedom to be a Canadian composer is sensational.
The only difficulty – and that’s where the NBO comes in – is that our orchestras are always short of money. They don’t have the luxury of handing out commissions the way European orchestras do.
What does it mean to you to have your work played as part of the NBO’s official launch?
It’s extraordinary. It’s not like anything I’ve ever been part of before. I feel like I’m just one of many composers who will be part of this. The orchestra has made it very clear that their mission is to be there for Canadian composers. The fact that I’m the first one is incidental.
I really want the NBO to succeed and my colleagues want it to succeed. I wrote my piece with that in mind. I want the orchestra to like it and I want the audience to enjoy it. This is a real watershed event in Canadian music. I would like the concert – not just my piece – to be profound for everyone who hears it.
- Interview by Nicole Laidler
[...] NBBO to premiere ‘The Sparrow Ledger’ in Vancouver next month [...]