A site-specific sound installation: Speakers hidden in the canopy of a tree project the sound of birdsong toward the ground underneath where there are seats.  The audio is a sequence of four Benjamin Britten songs, recorded using the sounds of birds to replace the vocal and instrumental parts. The Britten songs are, Underneath the Abject Willow, from which the piece borrows its title, Night covers up the rigid land, Ash Grove and Seascape.

A poster in the 2013 Aldeburgh Festival program book announces that, “Abigail Lane presents the British Bird Orchestra”. The British Bird Orchestra is comprised of more than 50 British Birds. There is also an autonomous indoor satellite cube that plays random birdcall samples/ auditions from the Bird Orchestra members.

The work was made as part of SNAP Art at the Aldeburgh Festival, 2013, in which Britten’s centenary was celebrated. The tree was the willow tree on the Hepworth Lawn. The seating comprises of five wooden cubes painted in the same pink gloss that Gary Hume often uses in his paintings of birds.

The work was technically achieved by Matty Skylab. Some of the bird recordings are courtesy of Chris Watson.