Celebrating the exhibition of the Lindisfarne Gospels at Durham Cathedral, Chris Watson has researched the sonic environment of the Holy Island as it might have been experienced by St Cuthbert in 700 A.D. 'The Sounds of Lindisfarne and the Gospels' manifests a remarkable tapestry of location recordings made on and around the small island off the Northumbrian coast - a place of pilgrimage for Christians and familiar to busloads of schoolkids across the North East - where Eadfrith, the Bishop of Lindisfarne wrote and illustrated the titular Gospels during the late 7th C. and early 8th C. Each part reflects a particular season - 'Winter' is defined by cold, hard, constant North Sea winds and the sound of migratory flocks; 'Lechten' by busy bird calls and a strange unidentified, almost human-like woop and sploshing waters; 'Sumor' is a panorama of crickets, deep moos, bees, and cuckoos surrounded by water; 'Haefest' again by cornucopia of bird calls, and swooshing, almost industrial/industrious textures. You'll have to use your imagination, but we'd reckon he's vividly succeeded his aim to "reflect upon the daily and seasonal aspects of the evolving variety of ambient sounds that accompanied life and work during that period of exceptional thought and creativity". It's a blissful, evocative, thought-provoking listen - so typical of Watson at his very best.
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Celebrating the exhibition of the Lindisfarne Gospels at Durham Cathedral, Chris Watson has researched the sonic environment of the Holy Island as it might have been experienced by St Cuthbert in 700 A.D. 'The Sounds of Lindisfarne and the Gospels' manifests a remarkable tapestry of location recordings made on and around the small island off the Northumbrian coast - a place of pilgrimage for Christians and familiar to busloads of schoolkids across the North East - where Eadfrith, the Bishop of Lindisfarne wrote and illustrated the titular Gospels during the late 7th C. and early 8th C. Each part reflects a particular season - 'Winter' is defined by cold, hard, constant North Sea winds and the sound of migratory flocks; 'Lechten' by busy bird calls and a strange unidentified, almost human-like woop and sploshing waters; 'Sumor' is a panorama of crickets, deep moos, bees, and cuckoos surrounded by water; 'Haefest' again by cornucopia of bird calls, and swooshing, almost industrial/industrious textures. You'll have to use your imagination, but we'd reckon he's vividly succeeded his aim to "reflect upon the daily and seasonal aspects of the evolving variety of ambient sounds that accompanied life and work during that period of exceptional thought and creativity". It's a blissful, evocative, thought-provoking listen - so typical of Watson at his very best.
Celebrating the exhibition of the Lindisfarne Gospels at Durham Cathedral, Chris Watson has researched the sonic environment of the Holy Island as it might have been experienced by St Cuthbert in 700 A.D. 'The Sounds of Lindisfarne and the Gospels' manifests a remarkable tapestry of location recordings made on and around the small island off the Northumbrian coast - a place of pilgrimage for Christians and familiar to busloads of schoolkids across the North East - where Eadfrith, the Bishop of Lindisfarne wrote and illustrated the titular Gospels during the late 7th C. and early 8th C. Each part reflects a particular season - 'Winter' is defined by cold, hard, constant North Sea winds and the sound of migratory flocks; 'Lechten' by busy bird calls and a strange unidentified, almost human-like woop and sploshing waters; 'Sumor' is a panorama of crickets, deep moos, bees, and cuckoos surrounded by water; 'Haefest' again by cornucopia of bird calls, and swooshing, almost industrial/industrious textures. You'll have to use your imagination, but we'd reckon he's vividly succeeded his aim to "reflect upon the daily and seasonal aspects of the evolving variety of ambient sounds that accompanied life and work during that period of exceptional thought and creativity". It's a blissful, evocative, thought-provoking listen - so typical of Watson at his very best.