Three years after originally being recorded, a buried album has debuted at number one on the UK classical chart.
The physical copy was literally unearthed from where it was ‘planted’ in Orkney after fans followed a ‘treasure hunt of clues’.
Erland Cooper, a Scottish composer, recorded Carve The Runes Then Be Content with Silence in 2021 but it was over a year before the album saw the light of day.
All digital copies of Erland’s music, in collaboration with chamber string group Studio Collective and violinist Daniel Pioro, were scrubbed so only the physical disc remained.
Eventually, fans discovered the album in the ground in the composer’s hometown on Brinkies Brae, Stromness, in late 2022, after a year of searching.
It was then performed to the public for the first time in London’s Barbican Hall in June 2024 and has now debuted at number one on the classical charts — his first record to do so.
On his website, Erland wrote: ‘In early 2021, I planted the only existing recording of a new work deep in the soil of Orkney.
‘The master tape was buried with a violin, the full score, a letter in a biscuit tin & a special stone marking the spot. A treasure hunt of clues was revealed for you to search if so wished.
‘In late 2022, my tape was found by Victoria and Dan Rhodes. They discovered it by understanding the poetry of the work and examining the physical rock formations in photos I revealed.’
It was in September 2024 that the album finally was released digitally by Mercury KX, exactly as it sounded having been underground for over a year.
Speaking after the album was released, he said: ‘I think poet George Mackay Brown would be rather tickled by this. I know he had a deep connection to community, landscape and the music of it all, so to celebrate nature’s wild contribution to composition, and the resilience of both, is a glorious thing.
‘I’ve so much gratitude to everyone listening and buying this record, even had it emerged from the soil as silence.
‘Huge thanks to my record label for being so bold and supportive. A win for Orkney, nature and the seedlings of ideas.
‘May the words and music fly high and dive deep like a gannet. For the islands we sing.’
In honour of the album’s unusual journey, the number one trophy will also now be ‘planted’ somewhere underground, belonging to whoever finds it in the future.
Tom Lewis, co-president of record label Decca, said: ‘Erland is the Banksy of classical music. He brilliantly and fearlessly melds the worlds of composition and performance art.
‘This is his greatest and riskiest work yet. And to think that it could have all disintegrated before any of us heard a note. That’s so audacious.’
Erland is embarking on a tour in October and November, with dates in the UK, Europe, and the US.
Carve The Runes Then Be Content With Silence is available to stream now.
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