Wikipedia
Mai-Dun is an orchestral work composed in 1921 by John Ireland (18791962). He called it a symphonic rhapsody; another description might be tone poem. In 1931, he arranged it for piano four hands.
In British Celtic, "Mai-dun" means "great hill". Ireland's piece is a musical evocation of a notable iron age fort: Maiden Castle, Dorset, near by the house of the English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (18401928); whose name for the place Ireland adopted.
It has been said that, "ancient sites with echoes of the supernatural, including the Channel Islands, inform some of Ireland’s few orchestral pieces"; and of Mai-Dun itself that, "it is a strong piece, aggressive at times, resourcefully scored, and Ireland’s imagination was ignited by the largest hill-fort in England, dating from 3000BC, and its violent history."
A typical performance takes about 12½ minutes.