As a musician, you may doubt the value of your contribution to the conversation around the climate because you are not a scientist; but are the scientific messages actually being listened to, or do they fall on deaf ears? Perhaps you have a secret weapon after all…
I am one half of Stevens & Pound, combining classical percussion with harmonica and melodeon from BBC Radio 2 Folk Musician of the Year nominee, Will Pound. In January 2026 we collaborate with author Robert Macfarlane (Is a River Alive?, Underland, The Lost Words: A Spell Book) to present a new planet for a recomposed Planets Suite, alongside the Britten Sinfonia, debuting at the Barbican.
How Holst captured the public's imagination
'Earth’s vast, miraculous sound-world mustn’t dim to become a silent — or silenced — planet. In music, word and performance, we want to communicate the wonder, awe and fragility of the planet we inhabit' – Robert Macfarlane
The genius of Holst’s creative approach to The Planets captured the public’s imagination; each planet represents an astrological character: 'Mars: Bringer of War', 'Jupiter: Bringer of Joy'.... Holst’s iconic suite set the scene for our auditory interstellar imagination, despite the auditorium of space being ultimately silent.
'The enormity of the universe revealed by science cannot readily be grasped by the human brain, but the music of The Planets enables the mind to acquire some comprehension of the vastness of space where rational understanding fails' – Gustav Holst
How to depict the Earth through music
So what is Earth’s story today? In 1914 Holst ultimately chose to silence our planet through omission as 'astrologically insignificant'. The pertinence of this creative decision presented us with an opportunity to explore the future of the planet sonically in the context of the current political and ecological climate. With this in mind, we titled our additional movement - 'Earth: The Silent Planet'.
'I wanted to write into that extraordinary idea that this is the planet that never had a voice in the original suite. We decided that we wanted to make something in which we gave almost a deep time birth of sound before life as we know it, then life’s explosion into sound and music, and then slowly the peril, the precarity of dying away towards silence' – Robert Macfarlane
The power of the story is well-documented; in his TedX talk 'The Magical Science of Storytelling', garnering 5.2 million views, David JP Phillips presents a study where 200 authors are asked to add 'stories' to 200 objects bought for a total of $129. They were subsequently sold for a cumulative total of $8,000 on eBay.
Climate change: the importance of storytelling
We often hear the hard data around the climate, but without its story do we consciously listen? As musicians, we have access to a public platform and engaged audiences, who have deliberately created time to listen. Teach the world to listen is the musical mission of solo percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie who lost her hearing as a child: 'I suppose I don't hear things, but I listen. And there is a big difference between hearing and listening.'
Last year in a project alongside the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, we collaborated with climate organisation Force of Nature. They advocate 'using the power you already have' to mobilise emotion into action. For me, I came to realise that my most significant existing power is my work as a musician.
We can draw on existing repertoire and resources to show change. For example: In 2020 The NDR Elbphilharmonie produced The [uncertain] Four Seasons – which algorithmically recomposed Vivaldi’s original score using 300 years of climate data, starting from 1720 when the piece was written, in an artistic collaboration with the natural environment. The updated score included reductions in birdsong and increasing severity of weather.
There is a movement across the arts to recognise Earth as a co-writer and give natural places the legal rights non-human corporations already enjoy. In the music industry we have our own organisation championing the collaboration between artists and the planet: EarthPercent. Musicians commit 1% of their PRS (writing) royalties to 'Earth'. The charity pledges the money raised to ecological causes. Participating artists include the Aurora Orchestra, Terry Riley, Coldplay, Jacob Collier and Emeli Sandé.
Using music to give voice to the climate change crisis
As a musician, I had never previously considered myself to be an climate activist, but have realised that action can take many guises. Artistic collaboration allows me to amplify unheard voices in the conversation around our relationship with the natural world.
Robert Macfarlane proposed the artistic challenge to us: how can we talk to audiences without even using the words 'climate change'? How do we 'show' instead of 'tell'? Music and literature have the advantage of ambiguity, of allegory, of allowing the audience to craft emotional nuance to navigate complex issues which cannot be subsumed into a singular graph or statistic.
The data alone is not enough. What are the stories we really need to start listening to?
Stevens & Pound perform 'Earth And Other Planets' with Britten Sinfonia and Robert Macfarlane at Milton Court, London (28 January 2026); St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich (29 January 2026); and West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge (30 January 2026).
Stevens & Pound's recording of 'Earth: The Silent Planet', with words and narration by Robert Macfarlane, is released in January 2026.
