Special concert at London’s Barbican Hall marks the centenary of the sinking of the Titantic

English composer Gavin Bryars commemorates anniversary of the Titanic disaster

Released on: March 07, 2012, 9:49 am
Author: LondonTown.com
Industry: Travel

One hundred years since the sinking of the Titanic, London's Barbican Centre marks the centenary of the tragedy with The Sinking of The Titanic, a concert by the Gavin Bryars Ensemble and experimental turntablist Philip Jeck. On Sunday 15th April 2012 the famous story will be ignited once more with this special concert of Gavin Bryars' 72 minute piece to a backdrop of projected archival images, and for visitors travelling to London for the concert there is a good selection of cheap London hotels close to the East London arts venue to choose from.

Composed in 1969 as “the musical equivalent of a work of conceptual art”, Gavin Bryars' The Sinking of the Titanic was inspired by reports that the ship's string ensemble continued to play the hymn tune ‘Autumn' as the vessel sank in the early hours of 15th April 1912. This hymn tune forms a base over which other material, including fragments of interviews with survivors, and sequences of Morse signals played on woodblocks, are superimposed.

Strings, spoken-word fragments and percussion are mixed with bagpipe players – referencing the players (one Irish, one Scottish) on the ship – and miscellaneous sound effects relating to descriptions given by survivors of the sound of the iceberg's impact.

First recorded for Brian Eno's Obscure label in 1975, the piece has always been an open one, being based on information about the disaster and taking new developments into account. A second recording, made in 1990, when the piece was performed live at the Printemps de Bourges festival in Brussels – in the town's disused Napoleonic-era water tower – took new information from the rediscovery of the wreck by Dr. Ballard in 1986 into account. New revelations about children being among the victims led to the addition of a string ensemble and choir voices.

Most recently The Sinking of The Titanic was recorded live at the 49th International Festival of Contemporary Music at the Venice Biennale in 2005 and, like this performance of the piece, the Barbican Hall concert will also feature the addition of Philip Jeck and his sample-based materials. For fans of contemporary and experimental music this is a must-see experience and for anyone wanting to find out more about this and other events in London the website LondonTown.com has listings for all of London 's world renowned entertainment venues.

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