HANNAH PEEL details world premiere performance of Underland at Barbican on 24 Oct, part of Hannah Peel: In Focus two-dayer - Underland original score, out on CD on 16 Oct via Rivertones
Electronic composer and musician Hannah Peel is set to release her original soundtrack for Underland, alongside a two-day Barbican takeover featuring the world premiere of the score and a rare live performance of The Endless Dance.
Hannah Peel has announced the release of her original score for Underland, Robert Petit’s film adaptation of Robert Macfarlane’s acclaimed book of the same name.
The soundtrack will be released on CD on 16 October 2026 via Rivertones, ahead of a world premiere of the score at Barbican Centre, on 24 October.
The performance forms part of Hannah Peel In Focus, a two-day programme at the Barbican celebrating the composer's distinctive approach to electronic music, contemporary composition and collaboration.
A journey beneath the surface
Peel's Underland score explores the mysterious world beneath the Earth's surface, drawing on the themes of Macfarlane's book and Petit's film.
The music combines electronic textures with voices, strings and unusual instruments to create an atmospheric soundscape reflecting caves, underground landscapes, ancient history and the mysteries hidden beneath the ground.
For the score, Peel has brought together sounds from different eras and musical traditions. Ancient Mayan pod trumpets and an Iron Age horn known as a Carnyx are combined with baroque choir, string orchestra and synthesizers.
The result is a soundtrack that moves between the ancient and the futuristic, reflecting the film's exploration of mythology, technology, history and the possible future of the planet.
Speaking about the project, Peel said she had first read Macfarlane's book in 2019 and later incorporated some of its words into her 2022 album The Unfolding.
She described the opportunity to compose the music for the film as a "beautiful synchronicity".
Peel said the process involved imagining what the ancient cave systems and "astronauts of the underworld" might actually sound like, while exploring stories of the Earth's past and considering where humanity might go next.
World premiere at the Barbican
The world premiere of Underland will take place on 24 October as part of the Hannah Peel In Focus programme.
The performance has been adapted by Kieran Brunt and will be performed by contemporary vocal ensemble Shards.
For the live presentation, Peel's electronic score will be combined with choral elements and imagery from the film. Director Robert Petit has adapted the visuals specifically for the stage, creating a performance that brings together music, film and contemporary vocal performance.
The event follows the opening night of Hannah Peel In Focus on 23 October, when Peel will present PIA, a new live music and dance production based around her seven-movement work Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia.
Created with choreographer Katya Bourvis and creative producer Tala Lee-Turton, PIA will be performed with a 17-piece brass band.
The Endless Dance returns to the stage
The Barbican programme continues on 24 October with a live performance by Hannah Peel and Beibei Wang.
The pair will perform material from their album The Endless Dance, released through Real World Recordings.
The project draws on ancient concepts and follows the 24 solar terms of the Chinese calendar, bringing together electronic and acoustic sounds.
Synthesizers and prepared piano sit alongside traditional and unconventional percussion, including rice bowls and a jawbone.
The performance is expected to be a rare opportunity to experience The Endless Dance live, with Peel and Wang using the stage to explore the album's themes of movement, play and seasonal change.
Underland tracklisting
The Underland (Original Film Soundtrack) will be released on CD on 16 October via Rivertones.
The 19-track album is:
- Into The Underland
- Xibalba
- Little Miss Why
- Seeing In The Dark
- All They Had Was Fire
- Poverty Sinks Underground
- Dark Matter Mass
- The Waiting Wonder
- Epochs And Aeons
- The Crux
- You Don't See Sunlight
- The Forbidden Tomb
- The Earth Doesn't Forget
- The Uranium Lights Up
- We Fall Together
- Time Crumbles In Moments Like This
- The Sacred Chamber
- The Ascent
- The Surface
The track titles themselves reflect the themes running through the project, moving from the descent into the underground world towards an eventual return to the surface.
Hannah Peel live dates
The new soundtrack release coincides with a series of live appearances from Peel and Beibei Wang.
The pair will perform at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead on 20 October, followed by a show at St Luke's in Glasgow on 21 October.
Peel then heads to London for the two-day Barbican programme.
Her live dates are:
- 20 October – Gateshead, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, with Beibei Wang
- 21 October – Glasgow, St Luke's, with Beibei Wang
- 23 October – London, Barbican, PIA
- 24 October – London, Barbican, with Beibei Wang
With the Underland soundtrack arriving just days before its stage premiere, October promises to be a significant month for Peel, bringing together her work in film, electronic music, contemporary performance and collaboration.
For audiences interested in the intersection of music, technology, nature and the past, Underland offers a distinctly immersive new chapter in Hannah Peel's work.
Hannah Peel, credit Rachel McCarthy]