No recent act of wanton destruction in the natural world has seared and shocked the popular psyche more than the criminal felling of the Sycamore Gap tree in 2023. Standing for over a century in a dip near Hadrian’s Wall in north-east England, the tree not only captured the imagination of cinematographers, but thousands of ordinary people.

What is it about trees? Maybe because they are symbols not only of stability and protection but of growth, their loss signals a corresponding loss of innocence and hope. Speaking of innocence and hope, trees are also for trysts and can harbour fond, youthful memories. Perhaps it was with thoughts such as these that The Gesualdo Six constructed the program for their latest album in which trees, birds and innocence all have their place.

At the centre of this musical garden is The Wishing Tree by Joby Talbot, composer of the popular Path of Miracles. Juxtaposing a nervous, rapid-fire minimalism with some smoother melodic tendrils, the music brilliantly transmits the hope-filled message of Kathleen Jamie’s poetry: “look, I’m still alive – in...