James Drury, Guide Editor at the Barbican, presents an overview of what’s to come at our upcoming event, the greenhouse effect.
Image © Max Coulson
Reflect on humans’ relationship with nature at an innovative event in our Conservatory, featuring work by artists who are responding to the climate emergency using unconventional instruments, such as aeolian harps, rebar triangles and single use plastics used to prepare a piano.
The greenhouse effect is an immersive sound experience featuring music by a broad range of contemporary classical composers. The performers will be spread around the Conservatory, and you’re invited to move around and explore this incredible space while listening to cutting-edge music. It is curated by nonclassical and focusses on ideas of manmade vs natural materials, in response to the setting of the Conservatory, with its concrete and glass structure housing a natural landscape of plants from around the world.
‘Coincidentally, a lot of the artists we work with are considering themes of nature and the climate, and incorporating ideas about the natural elements and the idea of respecting nature into their music,’ says nonclassical director, Natalia Franklin Pierce. ‘The concept of “how we can we have a symbiotic relationship with the world” runs through all the pieces.’
Among the works you’ll hear is Quinta’s Meltemia, Dasos & Chloris, which was written during a trip to Greece, where the multi-instrumentalist researched and built Aeolian harps (which are played by the wind) and recorded them in the countryside. ‘The aim was to create music that seemed organically generated, that didn’t seem overburdened by human intervention,’ she says. ‘I hoped it would sound like it had sprung from the air or from the trees or from the mountains. I understood early on that I couldn’t force the Aeolian harps to sing. I had to wait for a collaboration with nature. I wanted to create music that expressed those same politics.
‘The three tracks that I have chosen for this concert are string-based and can be performed acoustically. Meltemia is named for the extremely strong winds that blow from the north across the Aegean Basin, and were the context for my harps’ first outing. ‘Dasos’ is Greek for ‘woodland’, and with the rich rumbling double bass and the bird- and insect-like textures of the upper strings, it didn’t feel like this track could have any other title. The myth of Chloris, abducted by the wind god Zephyrus, was the inspiration behind the track of that name.’
We’ll also hear sculptor and musician Marcus Vergette’s Tintinnabulation, which uses the sound of bells he made, along with piano, double bass and bird calls. ‘I’m interested in the resonance of bells,’ he says, ‘and the things that happen while they’re resonating – different frequencies appear to blossom out of the reverberation. And that’s what I want to play with.
‘The bells will be on wheels so people can move around and get a different relationship to the sound as they move. And the movement of the audience changes the sound of the bells too, owing to the acoustics. It’s like a rainbow – everyone sees it, but it’s a little different for each person.’
His album Tintinnabulation was made at the beginning of the first lockdown. ‘I decided to record them all together, as it was unlikely that so many of my bells would ever be together again,’ he says. ‘Tintinnabulation is composed using studio recordings of my bells and recordings of them with birdsong in the background as a result of them being recorded outside. The composition is structured on the idea of a world with nature and a world without it, and utilises the interaction of the bells and the birdsong for its harmonic and melodic content.
©2023 James Drury
Both concerts are sold-out, but you can listen to a playlist of music inspired by the event, curated by composer Claudia Molitor.
RUbbish music
2:30PM AND 5:30PM
Young Barbican members can attend a workshop with Rubbish Music (Kate Carr and Iain Chambers) and use sound to investigate the journeys, transformations and impacts of our discarded objects.
more from our label
Check out highlights from the launch of Disruptive Frequencies at Kings Place.