7 Interesting things about 7 Last Words for the Earth

Andrew Staniland • May 9, 2023

7 last words for the earth - a concerto for percussion and women's choir

#1 This project has been three years in the making

I delivered the score just before the pandemic. The planned premiere, like so many others, was put in COVID limbo. As public health restrictions eased, we were able to get the first half recorded in October 2021, followed by the 2nd half in April 2023. A lot has happened and changed in that time, but one thing that has remained is the climate emergency.


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  • 7 pics from 7 words

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#2 - Conspiracy, misinformation, secrets and codes

Hot topics of late. The third movement "7 Secrets" explores this in an urgent, secretive and kind of paranoid manner. This movement features a section where the choir becomes a 'live looper' for a percussion solo.  Interestingly, type “Seven Secrets” in a search engine, and autocomplete gives  some ... suggestions:

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#3 - RAGE!!!


Having a moment to express rage was cathartic for everyone. Interestingly, after each ferocious  'chaos chord' , we all erupted in gregarious laughter - it was a real and much-needed release.

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#4 Rob Power.


Rob Power is extraordinary. Everything he touches sounds musical and magical, be it a gong, one of his homemade instruments, or even a thermos. New Paragraph

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#5 Also Rob Power.


Rob invented a new instrument just for this piece, for a reoccurring pattern that I originally suggested gongs and vibes for. It does not have a name yet, but it sounds gorgeous: New Paragraph

# 6 Hope


Despite the main title this piece is actually about Hope. '7 last words for the earth' is of course in line with so many other "last words" pieces, which are generally religious in nature. This work is a secular take on that idea, and is focussed on the very real climate catastrophe. 


The Hope movement is based on a set of prayer bowls assembled by Rob Power. The tuning of these instruments is of course under no obligation to make sense to tempered tuning, and the choir gets to sing in a special intonation that is not quite tempered, and a little bit microtonal.



Fun fact that Lady Cove's music director Kellie Walsh's mothers name was Hope :)

#7 - Lady Cove Rocks


This piece calls for all kinds of crazy textural, off-the-beaten-path singing, and Lady Cove was down for it all. Coached by new music expert Michael Zaugg and conductor Kellie Walsh, they were unstoppable, expressing a dazzling array of power and emotion. 7 Last Words for the Earth will drop at a secret time on a secret label, all to be revealed soon.


Fun fact: Michael Zaugg's choir warmups are better than many new pieces...just sayin'.

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All photos by Andrew Staniland


7 Last Words for the Earth is a concerto for percussion and women's choir, commissioned by Lady Cove

 Funded by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Score available from composer

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