‘PASTORAL symphony’ sonic installation

Commissioned by: Barbican

This sonic installation, commissioned by the Barbican for their Beethoven Weeknder, explored the narrative progression of the early romantic composers’ 6th symphony, the ‘pastoral’.

Using the original score, notable and thematically important melodic fragments were extracted and isolated. These small cells were then transferred to field recordings of bird song, matching similar melodic directions, intervals and rhythms with the relevant melodic fragment.

Once compiled, the bird calls were split between 30 hand made bird boxes fitted with speakers, each linked to an MP3 player that responded to a bluetooth signal from a master server. With each bird box producing a different call, the conservatory was alive with natures recreation of Beethoven. Below is an example of one of the melodic fragments.

Performances

2020

Barbican Conservatory (Beethoven Weekender)

PRESS

“an inspired celebration” ★★★★★ - The Guardian

“a triumphant social event” ★★★★ - The Times

Gallery