Carve the Runes Then Be Content With Silence Erland Cooper

• 1 Carve the Runes Then Be Content With Silence (Full Version) 31:41
• 2 Carve the Runes (Mvt. 1) (Pt. 1 “bouncing and bending in the harbour”) 00:59
• 3 Carve the Runes (Mvt. 1) (Pt. 2 “through that yellow spindrift”) 02:17
• 4 Carve the Runes (Mvt. 1) (Pt. 3 “you must dance in a beautiful coat”) 04:54
• 5 Then Be Content (Mvt. 2) (Pt. 1 “song of the five seas”) 04:10
• 6 Then Be Content (Mvt. 2) (Pt. 2 “driftweed scored the strings”) 05:37
• 7 Then Be Content (Mvt. 2) (Pt. 3 “walking through heather and peat”) 04:30
• 8 With Silence (Mvt. 3) (Pt. 1 “con la memoria”) 02:00
• 9 With Silence (Mvt. 3) (Pt. 2 “wow and flutter of unearthed magnetic tape”) 02:13
• 10 With Silence (Mvt. 3) (Pt. 3 “our winter jar”) 00:33
• 11 With Silence (Mvt. 3) (Pt. 4 “sunwards turn”) 04:25
• Total Runtime 01:03:19

Info for Carve the Runes Then Be Content With Silence

This album was planted in the Earth, Spring 2021. All digital copies were deleted. It was found, Autumn 2022. It dried out on public display until Spring 2024.

It is released exactly as it sounds from the Earth. Erland Cooper’s new album Carve the Runes Then Be Content With Silence will be released on the Autumn equinox, 20th September 2024, following its premiere live at The Barbican in London on 8th June. This first public reveal comes 3 years after the only master tape was planted deep in the soil of the Scottish Highlands and Islands of Orkney and all digital copies were deleted. It will be released exactly as it sounds from the earth. The recording is Cooper’s new three-movement work for solo violin and string ensemble. After digitisation, the composer will complete the score for live performance as a true collaboration with the natural world. The piece was written to mark the centenary of celebrated Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown, as 2021 marked 100 years since his birth.

Inspired by natural landscapes and ruminating on time, hope, community and patience, the sole recording of the work – on ¼ inch magnetic tape, with the digital files permanently deleted – was planted, to grow and be nurtured or “recomposed” by the earth, before being exhumed and released. A treasure hunt of clues was slowly revealed by the composer every equinox period for fans and his record label alike to search for it if they so wished. In 3 years, if not found, the composer would return to dig it up himself. In late 2022, the tape was found on a hunt by Victoria and Dan Rhodes. The album will now be digitised on the spring equinox in a special ceremony captured on film and released, exactly as it sounds from the earth, with nature having collaborated in the compositional process. The final score will then be completed and performed by live musicians at special concerts scheduled across the UK, Europe and America.

“At a time in history when technology has made the world’s recorded music available to anyone with a streaming subscription...Cooper’s project serves as a commentary on the disposable nature of music and the immediacy with which it is delivered” (The Times)

Erland Cooper

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 48 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Erland Cooper
is a Scottish composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist originally from Stromness, Orkney. As a solo artist, he has released seven acclaimed albums, including a trilogy of work inspired by his childhood home, as well as themes of nature, people, place and time. His work combines field recordings with traditional orchestration and contemporary electronic elements. Through music, words and cinematography he explores identity, memory, and place. He develops these themes further by partnering with well-known artists and writers. Cooper also works across mixed media projects including installation art, theatre and film.

“...at once calming and euphoric, with a beauty that’s its own justification” Uncut

“Nature’s songwriter... for all its gentleness, Cooper’s songs are deeply emotional” Guardian

“...a record of simple beauty, exploring the place where electronic and classical music can co-habit” The Quietus

“Wonderfully nuanced songwriting matched to lung-bursting string arrangements.” Clash

“Magical and moving... as homely as a ceilidh and as awe-inspiring as a storm” Q

“considered, crafted and explorative of details that only someone with a true affinity can delve into” Loud and Quiet

“...a meditative, transportive listening experience... an ethereal swoon. It makes you wonder where Cooper will take you next” Q

“Masterful. A work of audio art” Mary Anne Hobbs, BBC 6 Music

This album contains no booklet.