The overwhelming force of Nature is at the heart of the concept of my Earth Suite. The question of our existence as a species is becoming ever more complex, and yet the ultimate power remains with Nature. These are contemplations, which I’ve explored in a number of previous works, including in my violin concerto, The Patience of Trees, and numerous works inspired by mountains. This suite unifies some of the major pieces that I wrote as part of my association with the BBC Concert Orchestra. The collection of works can be performed together, in any combination, all bound by the great natural forces that surround us and that we are part of ourselves. Alternatively they can be performed as individual, shorter works and I plan to add more movements to this suite in the coming years.

Tectonic: The dramatic consequences of the shift in the tectonic plates which form the Earth’s crust have shaped our landscape—the formation of mountains, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes—and this powerful force became my inspiration. This was one of the first larger pieces I had written for orchestra and it is almost vertical in its concept—characterised by blocks and leaps in the music.

The opening, almost Morse code theme in the basses and lower brass, sets up a suspenseful expectation, which slowly grows as different orchestral sections join, before an orchestral tutti bursts through. The music then returns to the ominous state before yet another orchestral burst ruptures the calm—a clear reference to seismology and the tectonic plates.

Pacific: While Tectonic’s concept was mainly vertical, here the calm surface of the Earth’s largest ocean, stretching to an infinite horizon, inspired Pacific, the slow movement of the suite. The work was conceived as an almost endless stream of interlocking woodwind solos, which contract to a very minimal orchestration with pulsating piano accompaniment, before slowly building to an enveloping climax and then evaporating into string harmonics.

Written just as the Covid-19 pandemic was about to take hold, I feel that some of the anxiety and uncertainty of that time has permeated this music, almost a kind of premonition of the stillness that the world experienced, and that I feel still resonates today.

Timber & Steel: Celebrating 150 years since Proms founder Henry Wood’s birth, the title of the piece includes the nickname by which the beloved figure was known among Proms goers and musicians—‘Timber’. As I was contemplating what Henry Wood would have made of the world today, it also made me think of the world that he would have found himself in on his arrival in 1869. I kept coming back to the great industrialisation over the century that preceded Wood’s birth. Machines freed up time, allowing people to invest in learning about the world, educating themselves, enjoying cultural activities—an opportunity that, ultimately, inspired the concept of the Proms concerts.

Throughout the piece I wished to create a sense of drive, movement, progress. After all, we’ve seen the most astonishing advancement in technology in the last century, and this relentless energy is what motivated my new work. The title also alludes to the founding elements of industrialisation and, helpfully, has a connection to the materials found most broadly among orchestral instruments themselves—woods and metals. These two sound-worlds are constantly being pitted against each other, beginning with the woody marimbas which lay the foundations for brass sparks. A series of musical ‘cells’ slot together throughout the piece: many of these cells carry material made up of the musical equivalent of Henry Wood’s name and the title of the work; some examples are the opening figure in the marimbas or the jagged first full orchestra outburst.

As well as being an accomplished painter, carpentry was among Henry Wood’s various hobbies and I would hope that he would have enjoyed the jigsaw of ideas that form the spine of my humble homage to a great figure in British musical life.

from notes by Dobrinka Tabakova © 2023