Shad Thames, Broken Wharf, by Oliver Barrett

Shad Thames, Broken Wharf

by Oliver Barrett

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1.	The Old Father 07:12	buy track
2.	Ghosts of Industry 04:00	buy track
3.	Broken Wharf 03:24	buy track
4.	Circles, Cycles 02:56	buy track

about

Four pieces for string ensemble commissioned by the London Word Festival for their 2010 edition to accompany a new work by the great poet, Chris McCabe. The pieces are interspersed by recordings taken along the Thames around the Isle of Dogs, which were mangled up and used for sound design in the performance.

From the original listing..

"The history of the Docklands is that of a city building upwards, from the monstrous bunkers of the docks themselves to the glass pillars at Canary Wharf. Whenever the means of profit-making have changed, Docklands has always been prescient and protean in its survival instincts. The success, and failure, of the current financial centre echo the creation of the original docks: control of local communities for global trading, the hegemony of private investors and monolithic architectural statements of presence.

Set in a pub that has stood on the site since the sixteenth century, Shad Thames, Broken Wharf eavesdrops on a conversation between three characters – Echo, a middle-aged woman who has lived her life in the area; Blaise, a northerner who finds resonances with the more familiar docks at Liverpool; and the gregarious landlord, a Londoner with ‘the knowledge’. Breaking into the dialogue, The Restructure is a sinister, all-knowing Public Service Announcement with ‘advice’ to share with anyone who’ll listen…

Shad Thames, Broken Wharf is a newly commissioned play of voices by acclaimed poet Chris McCabe that spans centuries of changes across the Docklands, allowing past ghosts to be heard above the white noise of the polemical present."

These pieces were only ever intended as guide recordings for the dozen or so members of the original ensemble but, having listened to them for the first time in over a decade, it seemed a shame to let them digitally moulder on a dusty hard-drive. Some of the tuning is a little wayward, and I'd have likely mixed these a little differently had I written these now, but I no longer have the software that I recorded them on. So, aside from a final polish on the master files, here they are, all imperfections lovingly included.

credits

released April 1, 2024

All pieces written, performed and recorded by Oliver Barrett.

Score originally commissioned by the London Word Festival, 2010 (ensemble billed as Bleeding Heart Narrative for the event)

‘Shad Thames, Broken Wharf’ by Chris McCabe published by Penned in the Margins - available here: www.pennedinthemargins.co.uk/index.php/2010/08/shad-thames-broken-wharf/

Thanks to Tom Chivers, Chris McCabe, Max Bondi, Jack Wake-Walker and all of the cellists, violinists, viola players, guitarist and harmonium bellower who performed these pieces on the night.

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Floating Limb England, UK

Floating Limb is a hub for the various projects of Oli Barrett.

For Petrels releases please visit: petrels.bandcamp.com

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