Music, sound art and public sculpture meld together in Dominic Murcott’s The Harmonic Canon, his British Composer Award winning composition featuring one half-tonne double bell, an array of unusual metal percussion and two virtuosic percussionists.
Created in collaboration with sculptor Marcus Vergette and American percussion ensemble arx duo The Harmonic Canon is both the name of the piece and the double bell that was custom-made for it. Comprising of two bells tuned a semitone apart, the bell was created using Finite Element Analysis, a type of structural analysis that determines the vibration patterns of the bell, manipulating its harmonic series to create a complex series of frequencies that make up a note. The result is a sound world that straddles consonance and dissonance, murky and clear, pure and distorted. Parts of the bells are in tune with each other, while others are out of tune, creating a unique ‘beating’ between the bells. Oh – and did we mention it spins?
To celebrate the release of The Harmonic Canon on 10 May, we launched the record at the Royal Albert Hall’s Love Classical Festival on 8 May. With performances taking place across the Albert Hall Gallery, the evening featured a live set from Nonclassical artist Tom Richards, a new work for handheld percussion from emerging composer Heather Stephenson, and a full performance of The Harmonic Canon.
The Harmonic Canon is available via the Nonclassical Bandcamp page.