SOMA Magazine SOMA Film and Music Issue Aug 15 | Page 81

Rysselberghe’s 1892 painting, Coastal Scene. Smith says he chose
the Belgian neo-impressionist painter’s pointillist work because
he was attracted to the dots.
Another avenue for Smith was scoring the Tree of Codes ballet, based on the unusual novel of the same name by Jonathan
Safran Foer, and commissioned by the Manchester International
Festival. The ballet premiered to rave reviews in Manchester in
July and is coming to New York in September.

“I started by taking pages from the book which are sculpted
and literally cut out,” says Smith. “They create these patterns
that look like melodies. I tried to put those patterns into a computer program to create the melodies that are the basis for the
music. It was very abstract which allowed me to work away
with my own thoughts without having to be very strict about
the music I was making.”
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