From the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze, to the crashing of waves against rugged coastlines, nature's symphonies have captivated musicians and composers across cultures and time worldwide. Beyond mere inspiration, music and nature also intersect in their ability to heal us, with studies showing that listening to music and spending time in natural environments can reduce stress, improve mood, and enhance overall wellbeing. The Wildlife Trusts are thrilled to be able to explore the relationship between music and nature more with our partners at The National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain.
Fragile Earth
Throughout history, humanity has found solace, inspiration, and connection in the sounds of the natural world.
Fragile Earth - Sir Karl Jenkins CBE
Commissioned by The National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain for their Easter course, Sir Karl’s work, in three movements, is about climate change: Scorched Earth, The Blue & Flight. The recording of the World Premiere will be added once the piece is made public.
The first movement, ‘Scorched Earth’, is taken from a military phrase where retreating armies left their mark by destroying the habitat as they marched, leaving nothing beneficial to humanity behind. Within this movement there is a plea for hope and renewal. We need to restore nature at a global scale, on land and at sea. And it needs to happen now. Humans ‘Scorch’ the Earth, destroying habitats and wild animals in many different ways, but it is also humans who can bring about change. If this piece of music has inspired you, then add your voice to the plea for hope and renewal. Join (or start up your own) campaigns, mobilise your community to defend nature near you, write to your MP … join your local Wildlife Trust. Find out more here. Together we can heal this Scorched Earth.
The second movement, ‘The Blue’, refers to two of the biggest phenomena on Earth; the oceans (over 95% of the earth’s water) and the Antarctic Blue Whale (the largest animal species). This is where the piece moves into a majestic theme reflecting both the ocean and the whale, ending in a reflective mood. The ocean can seem like just a huge expanse of water – vast, deep and maybe a little scary. But a huge variety of habitats and species can be found here. As a result of its richness, our marine environment is under threat. Overexploitation of fish stocks is causing the decline of many once-familiar species. Pollution from sewage discharge, oil spills and nutrient run-off is extremely toxic to sea life, while physical disturbance from dredging, mobile fishing gear, boat anchoring and coastal development are also taking their toll on marine habitats. You can find out what The Wildlife Trusts are doing to protect ‘The Blue’ here.
The final movement, ‘Flight’, explores the forced migration of all living beings, small scurrying creatures and birds, to an exodus of humankind. The piece concludes with a big, bold, optimistic statement reminding us that nature is a powerful force, but we must help it recover. Nature, with its awe-inspiring force and resilience, has long captivated humanity with its beauty and power. Despite this, though, nature is under increasingly severe threat from human activity. Species are being forced from their habitats due to deforestation and pollution, and people are losing homes and their lives due to extreme weather events, forced to flee from flooding or fires. It is imperative that we come together to defend nature, safeguard the systems that sustain life on Earth, and restore wildlife. Find out more about combatting the climate and nature emergency here.
Each of the three colours represents one of the three parts of the piece.
The Wildlife Trusts and The National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain
The Wildlife Trusts' Chief Executive Craig Bennett says "It is truly wonderful that The National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain commissioned a piece of music that highlights the plight of nature and the planet through music. It just goes to show that we can all play our part in reversing nature loss. The Wildlife Trusts believe that if we are to truly tackle the climate and nature crises, we are going to need people from all backgrounds - diverse, growing communities of people - to join together. So it is incredibly exciting to have young, talented musicians, premiering a newly commissioned piece of music that expresses the fragility of our natural world, and of course the hope that we all must have.”
The wonderfully talented young musicians of NYBBGB have been exploring their relationship with nature alongside The Wildlife Trusts over the past year in the lead up to their performance of the Fragile Earth piece.
In 2023 several band members joined young people from London Wildlife Trusts at Camley Street Natural Park. There they met with Sir Karl Jenkins to consider what nature means to them, and also to discuss the dramatic changes in wild spaces since Sir Karl's youth. Later in the day, the group enjoyed a walk around the nature park, and they spoke to Sir Karl about his connection to nature and his inspiration for the ‘Fragile Earth’ piece of music.
I love it when the seasons change and you can go outside and see new colours and wildlife and hear new bird songs. Nature and music go hand in hand, there’s so much out there that’s really inspiring for me.
Later in the year The Wildlife Trusts staff visited the NYBBGB during a weeklong residential to deliver a workshop to both the children’s band and the youth band. The workshop was designed to dig deeper into the relationship between young people and nature and to explore how the band could be more nature friendly.
“We need nature in order to survive, without it we would lose everything” – Emrys
“Nature is important to mental health and general wellbeing” – Milie
The Wildlife Trusts were lucky enough to be visited by a few of the NYBBGB’s musicians at the Federation Conference in 2023, and their music opened up a live-streamed panel discussion on youth voice.
Across this first year of partnership, The Wildlife Trusts and NYBBGB have delved deeply into the discussion around youth engagement in nature.
With climate anxiety on the rise and many young people unsure of where to start with tackling the problem, music is a fantastic way for people to connect and to inspire one another. Music can bring communities together, it can uplift and heal, and it can also be a call to action… we know that we need to defend this fragile Earth that we live on, and we know that the youth of today will suffer repercussions if we don’t.
Find out more about the brilliant things going on with The National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, and find options for supporting their work here.