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Programme Note

Composed for the collection THE ORIANA COLLECTION, commissioned by the BBC and the King's singers to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, this setting takes three sections from a longer poem, specially written by Jo Shapcott, entitled CARTOGRAPHY. It traces a kind of journey across Hadrian's Wall from east to west, and down Offa's Dyke from north to south, an outline retained in this setting. The work reflects on themes of landscape, the life within and upon the landscape, and memory.

From CATOGRAPHY
'Cras amet qui nunquam amavit;
Quique amavit, cras amet'

I

Arbeia

Here the earth tells its story
to the sea, the sky,
and the estuary in between
leaks history.

We're listening so hard
but the wind hereabouts
whips up its own
noisy version of the truth.

III

Carlisle

Towers, walls, the castle,
even the earth we measure
with our steps on this walk -
are tough as you like.

In this light, the red stone
is more tender than stubborn:
the castle keep gifted
with the surface of the peach.

VI

Sedbury Cliffs

How many strange secrets
have we told the insects
on the muddy cliff top?
Armies of wood lice and spiders

skitter across fossils
of bivalves and ammonites.
There are other risks: gaze
down the estuary towards the sea.

© Copyright 2002 Jo Shapcott