Available to listen to and buy at Bandcamp
Release date: 22 February 2025
Format: digital download. Artwork and typography by Landschaft.
The Ilkeston Responsories: My reflection on the Derbyshire market town of Ilkeston, set high on a hill overlooking the Erewash valley and the landscape of DH Lawrence. I examine the post-industrial geography and find moments of pathos and light in the monuments of past glories.
Responsory: I have appropriated the term, derived from the verse-call and refrain-response format of Christian liturgy. The musical conversation within these five works is formed by a number of dissonant and consonant layers, overlays of synthesised and violin / cello voicings. The overall structure follows the C melodic minor scale, with some liberties taken to emphasise the mood-feel.
40 Bridges, aka Giltbrook Viaduct. Put that into Google and view the images of this huge brick viaduct taking the former Great Northern Railway Derbyshire extension into the Notts and Derbys coalfields. Demolished in 1973, mourned by many.
Bennerley Marshes: low lying ground by the Erewash, made lower by opencasting and subsidence, scraped clear of ironworks and a coaling plant, now a favoured feeding ground for many species of ground nesting birds, among them my personal favourite: frequent vistor flocks of Lapwings.
Top Canal Bottom Canal: The Top Canal, Nottingham Canal is now derelict filled in for much of it's course, but with significant remnants and survivging bridge and lock works for those with time to walk between Langley Mill and Trowell. The Bottom Canal, still in water and navigable to Langley Mill (but no longer beyond, now the Cromford Canal is no more). Both canals served the coal, iron and associated industries until the age of the railway. The Bottom Canal is a favoured resting place for shopping trolleys and stolen bicycles. A fine walk can be had in summer along the towpath down to the Trent, some 12 miles.