Ground Work

Ground Work (2019)

for symphony orchestra

2 fl, picc; 2 ob, ca; 2 cl, b cl; 2 bsn, cbsn
4 hn; 2 tpt; 3 tbn, tba
timp, perc, hp
strings

Duration: c. 4 minutes

Programme note:

Ground Work draws inspiration from two enduring techniques in Western music history: the ground bass of the 17th century and isorhythm, a rhythmic device from Renaissance polyphony. Both are built on repetition—but not stasis. They revolve, cycle, and evolve, creating a sense of constant return with subtle transformation.

The title itself carries a dual resonance. In construction, “groundworks” are the essential first steps: preparing the terrain, digging deep, and laying the foundations for all that is to come. Similarly, this composition explores musical foundations—structural patterns that underlie and support the whole.

The piece unfolds in two alternating sections. In the first, a pedal point held by the lower instruments anchors a changing harmonic landscape above—at times dissonant, always shifting. In the second, the roles are reversed: a repeating melodic pattern, introduced by the marimba, floats over a continuously developing ground bass. The interplay between movement and stasis, foreground and background, creates a sonic architecture where the past’s techniques underpin a modern musical structure.

Ground Work is both a reflection on musical heritage and a metaphor for beginnings—laying down something solid upon which new ideas can rise.

Charlie Barber, July 2025

First performed by the New London Harmonia conducted by Oi Ching Chan on 12 July 2025 at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square, London

Lisa Izumi (Leader), Carolyn Kirwin, Milly Zhang, Meg Obata, Ellie Cooper, Gerald Shea, Zagisha Kamil, Cyrus Yuem (1st violins); Sima Jovanovic, Josie West, Aliz Radek-Mills, Leah Rosandahl, Rick Mukhopadhyay, Hannah Sanders, Wallace Wood (2nd violins); Aaron Minton, Erin West, Anna Purves, Aron White,Evelina Lingu, Mariana Ravelo, Rebekhah Dickinson (violas); George Delfas, Isobel Archer, Ellie Rayfoeld, Timothy Hill, Isobel Parsons, Charlotte Lavelle, Lucy Ladyman (cellos); Chiu Ying Chan, Yat Hei, Anton Avis (double basses); Vicky Lester (harp); Nok Him Chan (piano); Chang-Yu Hsu, Becky Andrew (flutes);Vivian Rodriquez Perez (piccolo); David Cross, Paul Crew (oboes); Lucy Underhill, Tuan Cao (clarinets); Miles Chapman, Mark Vagges (bassons); Jonathan West, David Claydon, Steve Thomas, Christopher Owen, Rutger Beelaerts (horns); Jim Osiol, Chris Marquardt (trumpets); Christopher Walton, Andy Leeming, Seonaid McCormack (trombones); Wing-Tsan Lam (tuba); Connor Chambers (timpani); Tobias Engelbrektsson, Mariella Bromfield, Tom Atherton, Gosia Kepa, Aisan Marsden (percussion)