A homage to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ paean to the skylark and its song: the ‘Lark Ascending’ (1921).
The composer was inspired by George Meredith’s poem of the same name and I’ve carved its first lines around the foot of the stand, beginning to spiral up.
Every spring I wait for the larks to rise and drop their ‘silver chain of sound’ onto the rolling hills of the Welsh Marches where I live, and feel a great sense of space, of being lifted out of winter. I get a similar deep joy from Vaughan Williams’ music and I’ve loved the chance to express and connect the two here.
To portray this sense of lightness, I designed this music stand as a column of bleached Sycamore with polished, stainless steel for all the metalwork and hung the lark from clouds over a hilly, river landscape.
Contrasting with the overall modern look, I based the clouds on those found in the By?d?in Temple, Japan, carved over a thousand years ago.
I hope I’ve created a metaphor here, for how music expresses something timeless and transient, and beyond simple physical experience.
This Lark Ascending music stand is fully functional; the desk is completely adjustable on the post: up and down for standing or sitting, and tilting.
You can see pictures of the music stand being made here.
Material: Bleached Sycamore. Stainless steel fittings, including internal track in the post
Dimensions: Height: 80in. 2000mm.
Price: £5,750
