'Antarctica' (2018-2019), for vocalist, three Actors, orchestra, live and fixed electronics, live and pre-recorded video (60’). Laura Bowler (music, film and collage libretto)
Lavinia Murray (original text Rehearsal mark V-EE)
Byshhe Inigo Coffey (Final Spoken Text on Video Rehearsal mark FF)
- Submitting institution
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Royal Northern College of Music
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 11A
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- January
- Year
- 2019
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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1 - Composition
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- ‘Antarctica’ is an immersive music theatre work foregrounding features of documentary and autoethnographic research methodologies to explore contemporary society’s destructive relationship with the planet, potentially provoking an audience to consider the urgent risk to our planet from climate change. For the creation of the work, I travelled to Antarctica, offsetting the environmental impact of my train and air travel by completing the journey via tall ship. I sailed from Ushuaia across the Drake Passage and into the Antarctic Peninsula Region to explore the region for a fortnight. ‘Antarctica’ uses extracts from documentation made during my journey, which consists of environmental sound recordings (including hydrophone), video recordings and an audio diary. Texts are chosen to consider the subject area from multiple perspectives and, as well as my audio diary, includes sailing shanties, quotations from politicians on climate change, original texts by Lavinia Murray and Byshhe Inigo Coffey, and ‘Thulia: a Tale of the Antarctic’ (James Croxall, 1843), the earliest Antarctic poem from the assistant surgeon during the United States Exploring Expedition (1842-1843).
‘Antarctica’ contributes to research on vocal and instrumental music in a multimedia context, multimedia concert-music as a vehicle for socio-political dialogue, the construction of collage libretti and the orchestra as a body for music-theatre exploration and experimentation.
This is the first work in which I have attempted to communicate aspects of the complex nature of climate change and its impact on both humanity and our planet. It directly informs current work including ‘Extinction’ (commissioned by the London Sinfonietta) and ‘Epiphany’ (a co-composed project with Sarah Nicolls commissioned by PRiSM and Manchester Science Festival) both to be performed in 2021.
The piece was premièred at HOME Theatre in Manchester on 30 January 2019 with the Manchester Camerata and was recorded by BBC Radio 3 for subsequent broadcast in February 2019.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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