The M1 Symphony

10/27/19 • 45 min

The dynamic, often dramatic, life of the M1 in words, sounds and a thrilling work performed by the BBC Philharmonic. In a powerful composition specially commissioned by BBC Radio 3, The M1 Symphony depicts how the M1 has transformed the British landscape and millions of lives. A place of routine and drama, where a momentary lapse can change everything, with terrifying speed. Documentary producer Laurence Grissell and composer Alex Woolf first collaborated on The NHS Symphony for Radio 3. This work explores a very different but no less transformative feature of British life. When it was opened in 1959, the M1 was truly revolutionary. No roundabouts, no crossroads, no traffic lights, just one continuous road connecting north and south. It dramatically cut traffic jams and journey times. But from day one, the M1 would extract a high human and environmental cost. A life-changing collision, an endangered ancient woodland and the soul-destroying frustrations of the daily commute form part of this unique tapestry of new interviews, archive recordings, ambient sounds and original music. Conductor: Mark Heron Composer: Alex Woolf Music producer: Sarah Devonald Producer: Laurence Grissell

Previous Episode

The Virtually Melodic Cave

To view the VR experience in 360 on your smartphone, either click or paste the following link into your search browser:

https://youtu.be/RHt6QIJI9cU also available from the GSA SimVis YouTube channel.

For the first time, a virtual reality experience and radio documentary will bring to life the ethereal magic of Fingal's Cave - the awesome natural structure on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Using cutting-edge technology, which captures not only the acoustics of the melodic cave, but its awe-inspiring visual scale and beauty, this Between the Ears takes you to a site of natural beauty that has inspired Felix Mendelssohn, Jules Verne, John Keats, August Strindberg and countless others.

Featuring a rich cinematic sound experience, we follow the work of Dr Stuart Jeffrey from The Glasgow School of Art’s School of Simulation and Visualisation, and sound designer and composer, Aaron May, as they both – in their own ways - explore the remarkable Fingal's Cave. A few years ago Stuart and a team of archaeologists from the National Trust for Scotland discovered Bronze Age remains close to the cave and near a 19th century building that was used by early tourists as a shelter from the elements. We join Stuart on location as he continues the dig and unearths further evidence of a Bronze Age site, and we accompany him into the heart of the cave during different sea states.

At certain times, the cave actually sounds musical, and this is the reason why local people named it the ‘musical cave’. Stuart explains that inside the cave there is a natural cognitive dissonance that can be very unsettling, indeed some visitors are left feeling on edge. This is because the resonant sounds of blowing and popping, together with booming waves; create a soundscape that does not match the movement of the waves.

During the Romantic period, Fingal's Cave attracted much attention and inspired many musicians, artists and literary figures and poets. Felix Mendelssohn made it ashore in 1829 and was so moved by the unearthly sounds that fill the cave he created the remarkable Hebrides Overture in response. Jules Verne said, "the vast cavern with its mysterious, dark, weed-covered chambers and marvellous basaltic pillars produced upon me a most striking impression and was the origin of my book, Le Rayon Vert”. During the 19th-century era of romanticism and the sublime, the Germans were particularly enthralled by Fingal’s Cave. Not only did they visit, but quirky plays and stories were even set there (including Bride of the Isles about vampires living inside Fingal's Cave).

The location’s rich mythology, including that of mermaids and giants, highlights the sublime aspect of the place. Stuart's wider research, a collaboration with Professor Sian Jones at the University of Stirling, is trying to fill in the gap between how the Romantics viewed it - a site of awe - and how we see it today. “We have become dull souls, seeing it only as a nature reserve,” he says. Stuart hopes to change that perception by investigating whether cutting-edge technology can capture a place’s very essence.

And this is where composer Aaron May comes into this story. Whereas Stuart has spent many hours within the magnificent natural structure, Aaron has never set foot in Fingal’s Cave. But for this documentary he has created a new musical composition based upon his experience of entering a phenomenally exact virtual reality reconstruction, made by Stuart and his team at Glasgow School of Art. The VR version, features laser scans, photogrammetry and acoustic sound maps. You are able to tour the entire length of the cave and even hear how a piece of music would sound if played within it. A version of this virtual reality experience, complete with Aaron’s composition, will be made available for listeners to explore on their smart phones. And of course, Aaron’s remarkable and evocative soundtrack will feature in the radio documentary.

Listeners will be able to access a version of the VR experience using their smart phones and a high-end version, running on an HTC Vive, will showcase at the Edinburgh Festivals in August 2019. For those unable to make the trip to Staffa, it’s the nearest you will get to experiencing the full majesty of the location.

To view the VR experience in 360 on your smartphone, paste the following link into your search browser: https://youtu.be/RHt6QIJI9cU

Producer: Kate Bissell

With thanks to: Composer Aaron May Dr Stuart Jeffrey from the School of Simulation and Visualisation at The Glasgow School of Art Derek Alexander from The National Trust for Scotland Professor Sian Jones from the University of Stirling Shona Noble Aura Bockute Singing in Aaron’s composition by Heloise Werner and David Ridley

Next Episode

Diorama Drama

Before the magic of photography, the dazzle of cinema - there was the diorama.

Frenchman Louis Daguerre is known primarily as one of the inventors of photography - but before the magic of light fixed on paper there was the diorama, which some call the precursor to the moving image, and cinema. The Diorama offered the well-heeled audience a glimpse into other worlds... where volcanos would erupt on the hour, Roman ruins explored, mountain peaks ascended... not unlike a modern Las Vegas but in the 1820s.

Using light, moving apertures, smoke and mirrors, sound and music, to produce unusually realistic effects, he created a new form of entertainment - immersive, dramatic, sensational, and for a brief period, the wonder of the Western world. From New York to Moscow,

Dioramas opened their doors to well-heeled customers who would be so delighted with the ‘realism’ of the created scene, they would frequently ask to be led onto the stage - be it a scene from the Alps, the Battle of Trafalgar, Cowes in the Isle of Wight, or a voyage in search of the North-West Passage.

By 1850, nearly all had burnt to the ground, probably due to the large number of oil lamps involved, and the highly flammable nature of the stage props and theatres, but hidden by a Nash façade in Regents Park, London, there stands the last of the Diorama Theatres - a Grade 1 listed building, now sadly empty and awaiting ‘reimagining’. Architect Marek Wojiechowski, who is developing plans for the long empty building, takes him on a tour backstage.

Award-winning writer, drama producer and podcast expert Dr Lance Dann gets a chance to visit the original Diorama before setting off on a kaleidoscopic journey through other influential dioramas. He returns to the Denis Severs House in Spitalfields, where he once helped install a sound scape, to bring this detailed recreation of a Huguenot silk weaver’s house, to life. Does the magic still work?

Dr Hetta Howes takes him into the immersive atmosphere of Great St Bartholomew’s Church where the worshippers were once drench is sounds, sights and evocative suggestions, and describes the most suggestible of religious texts – the passion meditations. Intriguingly he hears about The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death - the murder dioramas created by the brilliant and formidable Chicago heiress Francis Glessner Lee - still used today to teach detectives. Susan Marks has spent a decade researching her - her first film was charmingly titled - The Dolls of Murder, and together they try and solve one of her most famous murder scenes - Barn!

Dr Sarah Garfinkle helps us understand how our brains fool us, or decide to play along with immersion, whilst Dr Alistair Good, VR games designer, tempts Dann to jump off a tall building, virtually. Finally Dann visits possibly the last genuine Daguerre diorama in the world – in a small village just outside Paris, Bry-Sur-Marne, where the Mayor Jean Pierre-Spillbauer, and local archivist Vincent Roblin, have dedicated much of the last 20 years trying to restore the small but effective diorama at the back of a provincial church. After contacting Antoine Wilmering at the Getty Foundation, they received a grant of $200,000, matched by the French Government, which saved the last of Daguerre’s dioramas.

Producer: Sara Jane Hall Music sourced with the help of Danny Webb.