Larks Ascending transforms newly archived recordings of Skylark song into five vivid new works by Royal College of Music (RCM) composers. Created through a collaboration between the RVW Society, Wildlife Sound Recording Society, British Library and RCM, this live album gives a new generation of composers and performers a voice while confronting the dramatic decline of one of Britains best-loved birds. The project began when the collaborators came together to create an archive of Skylark song recorded in the British countryside. The archive now holds dozens of high-quality recordings from around Britainand even Swedenavailable to musicians, bio scientists, ornithologists and the wider public. The initiative evokes one of Vaughan Williamss most celebrated works while drawing attention to the severe decline in Skylark numbers during the past half-century. In collaboration with the Royal College of Music, the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society established a composition competition; around twenty entries were reduced to a shortlist of five who respond to the Skylark in strikingly different ways. Larks Ascending is at once a showcase for an exceptionally imaginative generation of young composers, performers, and an urgent invitation to listen more closely to the natural world.