- Venue
- Gloucester Cathedral
- Starts
- Thursday, April 30, 2009
- Ends
- Sunday, May 31, 2009
- Address
- College green GL1 2LX
- Location
- South West England
The piece is inspired by the history of the Cathedral’s cloisters and uses the structure of Thomas Tallis’ (1505 – 1585) remarkable 40-voice Spem in Alium. The speakers will transmit recorded sounds consisting of a collection of existing bird songs and Gregorian chants by the Cathedral Choir, as well as live transmitted sounds from the cloisters garden and from the nearby Highnam Woods – famous for its nightingales. Each of the four sides of the cloisters represents one of the four main natural areas of the county of Gloucestershire – the Forest of Dean, Severn Estuary and Vale, Cotswold Hills, and Cotswold Water Park – with sounds of birds associated with that area.There are also 40 small portrait heads made out of pheasants’ and ducks’ heads. Their strange beauty and elevated status draws attention to the ambivalence of our relationship with birds, whom we both protect and preserve as well as exploit. The opening night ‘s performance confuses the discarded and the ceremonial in a gown made out of chicken skins. Two organised evening walks, meeting at Highnam Woods Nature Reserve car park at 7.45pm, on May 6th and 13th. www.elpihv.co.uk
