A group of aspiring composers journeyed under the streets of Brighton in search of sounds that represent the city.
Brighton Early Music Festival and city poet Rosy Carrick are collaborating on a national project Watercycle with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE).
As part of the two-day project, clients of Brighton Housing Trust’s First Base Day Centre, which supports homeless and insecurely-housed men and women in the city, ventured into Brighton’s Victorian sewers to find sounds to create a digital overture – Sounds of Brighton.
Joined by players from the OAE on double bass, bassoon and oboe, they were also able to record sounds of these baroque instruments in this unique setting.
[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]There were no bum notes[/quote]
Cherry Forbes, OAE Education Director, said: “The group had spent the afternoon gathering the distinctive and individual sounds from around the streets of Brighton and Hove.
“To then be able to visit this artery running under the city and record these rarely heard sounds, but thankfully not the smells, will really add another dimension to the final piece.”
Madeline Stoneman, Southern Water PR manager, said: “Watercycle has been created as a unique way of exploring the world of water through sounds and words.
“There were no bum notes and the sewer’s exceptional acoustics provided the perfect setting for a one-off performance.”
The visit marks the start of a partnership between Southern Water and Brighton Early Music Festival and is part of Watercycle, a music education project that takes its inspiration from water as a linking, renewing and inspiring force. The project is also generously funded by the Mark and Ann Williams Foundation.
The partnership also includes educational workshops and will in a series of concerts in October and December where the original compositions will be performed along-side Handel’s Water Music Suite in F.
