The Rising Sea Symphony
The dramatic effects of climate change evoked in words, sounds and a powerful new musical work composed by Kieran Brunt.
The dramatic effects of climate change evoked in words, sounds and a powerful new musical work.
Over four movements of rich and evocative music, the listener is transported to the front line of the climate crisis, with stories from coastal Ghana – where entire villages are being swept away by the rising sea – to Norway’s Svalbard archipelago in the high arctic where the ice is melting with alarming speed. The dramatic final movement ponders two contrasting possible outcomes to the crisis.
In an ambitious new work originally commissioned by ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 3 for their Between the Ears strand, Kieran Brunt weaves together electronic, vocal and orchestral elements recorded in isolation by players from the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Philharmonic. Each musician recorded their part individually at home and these recordings were then painstakingly combined by sound engineer Donald MacDonald to create a symphonic sound.
Documentary producer Laurence Grissell and composer Kieran Brunt have collaborated to produce an ambitious and original evocation of the causes and consequences of rising, warming oceans.
Credits
Composer: Kieran Brunt
Producer: Laurence Grissell
Electronics and violin performed by Kieran Brunt
Orchestral parts performed by members of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Philharmonic
Vocals: Kieran Brunt, Josephine Stephenson & Augustus Perkins Ray of the vocal ensemble Shards
Sound mixed by Donald MacDonald
Interviewees:
Sulley Lansah, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Accra Office
Hilde Fålun Strøm and Sunniva Sørby, heartsintheice.com
Blaise Agresti, former head of Mountain Rescue, Chamonix
Blaise Agresti recorded by Sarah Bowen
Wildlife recordings by Chris Watson
Newsreaders: Susan Rae & Tom Sandars
Adverts voiced by Ian Dunnett Jnr, Luke Nunn, Charlotte East, Cecilia Appiah
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Broadcasts
- Sun 18 Oct 2020 18:45³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 3
- Fri 19 Feb 2021 23:30³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 4
- Mon 7 Aug 2023 22:30³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 3
Binaural sound
What is it and why does it matter?
Podcast
-
Between the Ears
Innovative and thought-provoking features on a wide variety of subjects