Word and sound
one theme of my work in recent years has been adding music and sound to poetry and prose.
Suspense - Does Not Conclude -
this is the third of 2009's Three Spring Performances and took place on Wednesday 17 June, with a repeat performance in September 2009. it is based on a setting of Emily Dickinson's poetry to hymn tunes likely to have been popular in the Sedbergh area in the late 19th century. for more about the piece, please follow this link to a page about Andi Chapple and Musicians.
Descant on Rawthey's Madrigal
this piece was commissioned by the 2007 Sedbergh Festival of Books and Drama with financial assistance from the Performing Right Society Foundation. it is based on the long 1965 poem 'Briggflatts' by Basil Bunting (1900-1985), a major British modernist poet, which can be found in Bunting's 'Complete Poems', published by Bloodaxe Books, and it is scored for live computer sound and processing, excerpts from 'Briggflatts' performed by a reader, and excerpts from a 1967 reading of the poem by Bunting himself.
Andi and Steve Tomlin perform Descant on Rawthey's Madrigal at Brigflatts, Sedbergh, 2007 (photo: John Rice)
the first performance of the piece was at Brigflatts Meeting House, near Sedbergh, on 8 September 2007 (Bunting's grave is across the lane from the meeting house). the reader was Stephen Tomlin.
I hoped to perform the piece again in 2008, but discussions with promoters came to nothing. it would be nice to do it again - the piece lasts from 45 to 55 minutes, we turn up with all the equipment necessary for a performance in a small- to medium-sized room, and fees, etc. are negotiable. please get in touch if you are interested!
Story//Sound, 15 December 2006
this one was in Westwood Books in Sedbergh, as a pre-Christmas entertainment. I provided sound to go with stories and poetry written and read by Jackie Huck, stories written and read by Lynette Shaw McKone, and a dramatic reading by members of Spellbound Theatre of a story by Helen Leslie Bromley. the sound was generated live, but for the first time it was all original material.
Word//Sound, 27 September 2006
this performance took place in St. Andrew's Church, Sedbergh, as part of the 2006 Sedbergh Festival of Books and Drama. I provided the soundtrack to readings of their own poetry by Jonathan Allen and Lynette Shaw McKone, readings of Jalaluddin Rumi's poetry by Ian McPherson, and readings of various writers' work by myself. the music was a mix of live processing of the voices, live digitally-generated sound, field recordings and DJing.