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s if going to the theatre isn’t exciting enough in itself, the Cornwall Playhouse – the Hall For Cornwall’s principal performance space - has commissioned Cornwall composer Graham Fitkin to work on a new app that will track your pedestrian journey in music. Due for release on June 1, Geography is designed to link music and location by allowing perambulating listeners, using their mobiles with headphones, to improvise journeys through the cityscape, with each direction governing how the music unfolds. Upon reaching your destination (be it the theatre or otherwise), you’ll have a unique homogenous piece your own personal ‘mix’, if you will - that can be shared in 21st century style with your friends on social media. Julien Boast, chief executive and creative director of the Hall For Cornwall, said: “We aspire to be at the cutting edge of creating new work, both in and out of the theatre, and are committed to supporting artists of all disciplines. So when the opportunity to n 24 |
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Issue 72 | June - July 2022
combine working with Graham Fitkin and new app technology as part of our History and Heritage programme fused, it seemed to be a perfect blend.” The idea first came to Graham in 2008, with a very different city in mind. “I was composer-in-residence for the London Chamber Orchestra,” he recalls. “We had a trip to Damascus planned, working with Syrian musicians, and I was asked to write something that would take into account the topography of the city. I thought it would be wonderful if people could wander around and come across live musicians as they traversed the city. “When I visit a new city for rehearsals and performances, I love exploring. I often go for a run, without a map – I let myself be led towards things that look nice, and I rather enjoy the fact that I might get lost. Of course, I’m also intrigued by sound, so I wanted to use the app to explore a city aurally as well as visually.” The Damascus trip never happened and the proposal remained hypothetical – until
now, following a chance conversation with Cornwall-based producer Michael White. Michael thought the idea could fly with modern technology, in Truro; he facilitated the collaboration with Cornwall’s leading auditorium, and secured funding from the Arts Council of England. Graham has spent two years working on the app. First he researched the city and walked its streets (a luxury afforded by living locally), making recordings as he went along. The bells you hear really are those of Truro’s magnificent cathedral; due to a current paucity of city centre bovines, however, Graham resorted to recording a Guernsey cow closer to his home in West Penwith, as the basis for a moo-sical symphony at Truro’s crown court, the site of a cattle market as recently as 1985. The result is around 200 individual pieces of music – around four hours in total – which will stitch together to make different pieces depending on your journey. “Unlike many audio walks, which take you somewhere specific to hear a
