Music for Stone Chambers vol. 1

We are taking an amateur choir around the Peak District to sing in unique reverberant spaces. The aim is to provide witnesses with an opportunity to engage with the space via the acoustic sculpting of the music. As well as performing existing pieces, our resident composer will write music bespoke to each structure, showcasing its unique qualities and identity. 

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Artistic exploration of living memory: spaces hold the memory of a place, and reverberation holds memory of sound. Materials and dimensions reflect the sound in distinctive ways, bespoke to the space, as if the sound is pulling personality from the very surfaces.

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These sonic qualities immediately evoke a sense of spirituality and wonder, making the listener feel grounded and present. This is an experience commonly found in ritualistic places like churches and temples, but also warehouse raves, valleys and some forests. It’s a human compulsion to enjoy this phenomenon, confirmed by the sheer irresistibility of a child needing to shout “echo” under a big bridge. 

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In our busier, more industrialised world, it’s hard to escape the pervasive rumble of cars, construction, aeroplanes and trains. We escape to nature and find it easy to reflect on the solace and joy found in the vistas before us, inhaling pints of this hallowed air. But sometimes even here we can’t escape noise pollution.

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This project invites the witnesses to undertake radical listening, using the beauty of the music, sculpted by the local acoustics, to recognise the power of place. 

We invite our hosts to use this opportunity to showcase their structure in any manner they like. The physical characteristics and the story of how the place came to be are as vital as the music. After all, the music is composed specifically for the space.