Earthworks

 

Ancient earthworks are monumental structures built by indigenous peoples, spanning thousands of years – notable examples include the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire, which enchanted me as a child, and those of the Amazon, whose presence has been revealed by encroaching deforestation. These geoglyphs are massive works of land art made from stone, gravel or earth. They are best viewed from above, and are understood to have served ritual, astronomical, territorial and ceremonial functions.

 

The concerto imagines these massive glyphs as ancient language – a communication, perhaps, from our ancestors to the future. The piece recalls an earlier percussion work – the ritualistic, rhythmic Dark Ground – from which opens a new landscape of signs and symbols; terrains are mapped out, and the earthworks speak in patterns, grooves and long striated lines.

 

T.D.