Erland Cooper creates music that feels less like a composition and more like a physical landscape being translated into sound. It is deeply rooted in the geography of the Orkney Islands, carrying the weight of the North Sea, the calls of local birdlife, and the quiet dignity of stone. The arrangements are elegant and patient, using piano and strings as a foundation for a much more complex sensory experience.
What truly sets him apart is his obsession with the physical life of sound. He doesn't just record music; he subjects it to the elements, famously burying master tapes in the Scottish soil to let the earth itself participate in the mixing process. This results in a texture that is beautifully weathered, featuring organic crackles, tape hiss, and the occasional intrusion of a passing breeze or a distant voice. It is music that honors the passage of time and the erosion of memory.
Start with 'Sule Skerry' or 'Hether Blether' to experience his island trilogy. These works serve as the perfect gateway into his world, blending traditional melodic beauty with the experimental, place-based storytelling that has made him a singular voice in contemporary classical music.
Erland Cooper is a Scottish composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Cited as "one of the most unique, consistently engaging composers of his generation", he was born and raised in Stromness, Orkney. As a solo artist, he has released five acclaimed studio albums, with multiple companion LPs & EPs, achieving a number 1 album in the UK classical charts and number 4 in the US Billboard classical crossover chart. This includes 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 classical orchestration and contemporary electronic elements. Cooper also works across mixed media projects including installation art, theatre and film. He is a recipient of a Royal Television Society award and his music is played frequently on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 6 Music as well as featured on multiple television and film productions. He is widely known for burying the only existing copy of the master magnetic tape of his first classical album, a violin concerto in Orkney, deleting all digital files and leaving only a treasure hunt of clues for fans and his record label alike to search for it. He buried the tape in early spring 2021 and intended to retrieve and release it in 2024. After a year and half in the soil, the tape was found in September 2022 by two amateur sleuths. It dried out on public display in record shops in Scotland for another year and a half and was released and premiered exactly as it sounds from the earth. The record became the first planted number 1 classical album, in collaboration with nature, topping the UK official charts in 2024. He is credited by Mojo Magazine with exploring the concept of psychogeography, connecting identity, memory, and place through music, words and cinematography. He explores these themes further by partnering with well-known artists and writers in his work and live shows. He also works across mixed media projects including installation art & film. He was commissioned to score the soundtrack to the floral transformation of The Tower of London, entitled Superbloom, celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and he also scored the giant kinetic light installation Nest, celebrating London’s first Borough of Culture, bringing together thousands of local voices from the community within his composition. His first feature film score, broadcast by National Geographic, earned him an Emmy, Critics Choice and RTS nomination. Along with broadcast premières, his works have now been performed in the concert hall by the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Ensemble. He also tours with his own ensemble, playing piano, electronics and tape machines, performing on stages globally, reaching a growing audience of fans who are coming to his music through a combination of his projects, most often inspired by the natural world.
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