Performed by Plus Minus Ensemble in a workshop June 6th 2019

Part of the Bath Spa University MA in Music

from the composer

Tidal Iteration 2 – Richard Hughes

I started to write this piece whilst watching the water flow in and out of the Afon Nyfer estuary. When the water was at its smallest flow, I imagined one instrument playing a motif then, as the flow increased causing the water level to rise, I could envisage another instrument joining the first, playing the same motif at a slightly higher pitch and a little later than the first. The motif then came to represent the essence of the water, its molecules perhaps, repeated in different positions to make up its mass and so the whole piece is made up from this single gesture.

I started to experiment with a motif and writing it at different pitches and offsetting it in time to itself. The piece swells and contracts reflecting the mass of the water in the estuary and the pitch range gradually increases as the piece progresses, reflecting the swelling of the body of water.

The piece was performed by members of Plus-Minus Ensemble in a workshop at The Michael Tippett Centre, June 5^th 2019.

Richard Hughes – composer

Mark Knoop – piano

Alice Purton – cello

Vicky Wright – clarinet

www.richardhughes.org.uk

Here

The famous Eden Project is seeking to build a new centre on Morecambe Bay which would focus on the tidal landscapes, ecology and so forth and also the wider world of water and ecology. See press report here.

The BBC Radio 4 series Open Country recently dedicated an entire episode to this story, discussing many aspects of Morecambe Bay and its tides. Programme link here. (This link might lapse in time).

This is the programmes on-line descriptor.

“The Eden Project plans to bring its distinctive building design and appreciation for biodiversity to Morecambe. It’s hoped that this Eden Project of the North would not only bring many visitors to the wider Morecambe Bay area but that it would also help us to understand the incredible ecosystem within the bay. Until now the Bay has often been feared after tragedies such as when 23 cockle pickers were drowned in 2004. It is the UK’s largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sands and this ecosystem creates a feeding ground and habitat for many species as well as supporting a unique method of fishing on foot and tractor. Many of those fishermen know how to work and cross the bay safely but Cedric Robinson is the man intrusted as ‘The Queen’s Guide to the Sands’. In this role he has been helping people cross the bay for 55 years and he has seen the bay changing. Helen Mark meets Cedric and hears how the Eden Project and the Morecambe Bay Partnership hope to transform the bay into a place of fascination for all with landscape art, iconic buildings such as The Midland Hotel and proposed Eden Project and the stories of those who know the bay best.”

Track 10 of their third Many A Thousand – Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith (07/09/18)

“Written by Jimmy for a event celebrating the history of Rotherhithe ‘The Tide’ reflects on the relentless drifting and rising tide of the River Thames (and people) coming in and out of London each day.”

I put the first 5 pages only. This is a kind of ‘low tide walk’  enabling book. Low tide walks  as discussed elsewhere on this blog – here. This whole book is on Google Books here

https://twitter.com/alandforgotten/status/1103248862960148481

Click on first pic to enter slideshow mode.

This great article from the New Yorker Magazine in 1951 by Rachel Carson contains some extended discussion of tides, as well as the opening sections on waves.

Click in the box below to jump to the full article.

See another post about Rachel Carson and tides here

“SILENCE OF THE TIDES is a cinematic portrait that is driven by the continuous ‘breathing’ of the Wadden, an area anchored amongst continuous tensions against a backdrop of light, mist, wind, water and land.

The film observes the inhaling and exhaling of the tides along with the repeating cycles and contrasts of nature, light, sound and mankind.

The film evokes the question of whether the Wadden Islands are a part of water or part of the land, but above all it gives shape and scope to the unique living existence of the Wadden Sea and its inhabitants.”

More info here