Kelston Birdsong
Notes
This piece comprises a selection of recordings of birds typically found at Kelston Roundhill near Bath, interspersed with human calls and responses performed by a mixed flexible ensemble (in this case comprising flute, clarinet, viola, tuned percussion and harmonium).
Kelston Birdsong was composed for the first Aural Diversity concert at The Old Barn, Kelston Roundhill, on July 6th 2019. A second version was performed at the Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester, in November 2019. The present version was recorded in 2021.
The piece is written for an aurally diverse group of musicians. The idea is that the birdsongs are categorised according to frequency range/audibility and then allocated to each musician based on their hearing profile. When a musician hears one of 'their' birds, they play a call from a call sheet. When the other musicians hear that call, they answer with a response from a response sheet. Each call/response set is written in such a way as to be most audible to the calling musician.
The first performance was given by: Anya Ustaszewski (flute) who has hyperacusis with a fondess for low frequencies); Ruth Mallalieu (clarinet) who is profoundly deaf and fitted with cochlear implants and therefore prefers thinned out harmonies; Matthew Spring (viol) who has unbalanced profound hearing loss and prefers pitches above middle C; Simon Allen, who has severe unbalanced loss in the upper registers; and Andrew Hugill (harmonium), who has diplacusis and severe unbalanced loss that particularly affects the lower registers.
The second performance featured a different set of musicians: Simon Atkinson (clarinet), Duncan Chapman (accordion) and Andrew Hugill (harmonium).
This version is a studio recording made with sampled instruments to give an example of the effect. It is really impossible to hear this piece outside a live setting, so a studio version is the only realistic way of creating a recording. Both performances were accompanied by this slideshow but this is not essential to enjoy the piece.
The birds featured, in order, are:
- Chaffinch
- Dunnock
- Collared Dove
- Common Gull
- Jay
- Blackcap
- Yellowhammer
- Blue Tit
- Bullfinch
- Carrion Crow
- Goldfinch
- Song Thrush
- Linnet
- Sparrowhawk
- Swallow
- Mistle Thrush
- Black Redstart
- Kestrel
- Common Cuckoo
- Pied Wagtail
- Pheasant
- Skylark
- Woodlark
- Robin
- Great Tit
- Nuthatch
- House Sparrow
- Magpie
- Starling
- Wren
- Blackbird
- Chiffchaff
- Jackdaw
- Great Spotted Woodpecker
- Buzzard