This work begins with a question - the opening chord features a harmonic device used to indicate something unresolved. I use this second note, both in the harmony and melody, to ask us to consider where we are going - where this disharmony will resolve.

Early morning hooting of owls opens the piece and soon the wind powered water pump clanks into action, draining the peat marshes and allowing the starlings to thrive. It’s frequency, altered by the strength of the wind, sets the rhythmic pattern of the marshes and of this piece.

Matins is performed by the starlings as they discuss potential feeding sites for the day. They form and re-form into groups clinging to the reeds, chattering noisily in numbers up to half a million. As the music feels finally ready to resolve thousands of birds lift off the reeds within seconds of each other and in the spacious silence which opens up the waterfowl and the breeze predominate.

Later towards dusk the starlings return in huge murmurations, swooping and diving over the reedbeds. People can be heard laughing and a child exclaiming as this is a much cherished site and is visited regularly by hundreds of people. As the starlings begin to drop into their roosts they set up a more contemplative chatter, the Evensong. This reminds me of giving praise for the day, celebrating the glory of Life and the wonders of our bounteous world. The piece follows this theme with a reference to Somerset Folk music and the patterns in which humans remember music.

As the starlings retreat into sleep the piece ends.

An added layer to the experience of Matins, Evensong in Wells Cathedral is the use of LiDar, kindly sponsored by Ruby Sant and “lost robot”. This incorporates two infra-red detectors which trigger the tracks individually, allowing the choir of starlings and their environmental accompaniment to respond to the movement of people within the chapel.

This work began as a joint project with Sally Stafford, the contemporary landscape painter. We spent weeks based on my land at Henton, near Wells photographing and recording at Ham Wall on the Somerset levels, a few miles south west from Wells Cathedral. We were able to capture the sights and sounds of the starlings in all their phases of activity. Some of our photographs and Sally’s paintings are shown in the slideshow below.

The total diurnal pattern is represented by eighteen minutes of music. I would be delighted if you would like to download a free copy by clicking on the link below.