Rehearsals in progress

Chris Stones, Gavin Bradshaw and Jamie Barnes are currently in rehearsals for a forthcoming concert. They are planning to add a further acoustic instrument to enhance the sound of the antique lithophone. Updates on this development will be posted shortly.

Stones Resonate in Cathedral

Chris Stones, Gavin Bradshaw and Jamie Barnes performed a series of newly-composed lithophone music in concerts in Carlisle today (24/07/09). You can read a BBC report on the event, including pictures and even an audio interview with Chris and Jamie here: http://bit.ly/13glXS

Upcoming Musical Stones concerts

We have two upcoming Musical Stones concerts on Saturday the 25th July in Carlisle, Cumbria, UK. The first one is at 11am in Carlisle centre, and the second is at 1pm inside Carlisle Catherdal. A full report will be posted here, and there are more concerts on the way.

Subterrean Rock Concert Wows Audiences

The 4 & 5th April 2009 marked the World Premiere of 'Slate Song': a collaborative performance between Soundwave, Changeling Productions, Storytree and Keswick Museum and Art Gallery for the man-made caverns of Honister Slate Mine.

Slate Song combined the music of ancient Cumbrian stone instruments, violin and voice with atmospheric lighting and shadow play. An underground cave inside the Lake District mountain Fleetwith Pike was the venue for this unique rock concert. A team of performers donned hard hats and headtorches and ventured 40 metres into the vast 'Cathedral Cavern' located at the heart of the mountain. Mezzo-soprano singer Sarah Wall, fiddler Mike Newport and puppeteer Ali McCaw, all backed by Chris Stones on the Famous Musical Stones of Skiddaw - gave four performances of 'Slate Song' to an array of mine visitors this weekend.

Our lithophone correspondent writes:
"The overall effect was entrancing. The performance was delivered in sections as we moved through the various tunnels and chambers. At first we were lead into a chamber known as 'Fiddler's Cavern' where in the 18th and 19th Centuries Irish fiddlers played to the slate miners to entertain them during their well-earned lunch breaks.
In this first act of 'Slate Song' we were treated to a series of folk tunes from the expert fiddler Mark Newport. This first suite of music from Mark was delivered in total darkness. The thick blackness was very affecting and allowed us to concentrate on Mark's excellent playing and the extraordinary acoustics. Mark has been inspired by tunes he has found in the Carlisle Records Offfice written down in the mid 18th century by Wigton fiddler John Barnes (no relation). It seemed exactly the right place to be hearing this music. Mark's music then provided a soundtrack to a shadow play and puppetry performance by master puppeteer Ali McCaw.
Next, the beautiful and ethereal voice of Sarah Wall lead us into a small chamber where we were treated to a psychedelic and mystical two-handed shadow play involving horseback riders, dragons and sheep! Sarah then picked up her song again to lead us to the finale. The style of Sarah's singing was inspired by Renaissance polyphonic song and the libretto was extracted from Cumbrian poet Norman Nicholson's tribute to Lake District geology: 'The Seven Rocks'.
Finally, we were lead into the massive amphitheatre-like space known as 'Cathedral Cavern' in the cold heart of the mountain. For this final act, expert shadowplay was brought together with the bell-like sound of the Famous Musical Stones of Skiddaw. Virtuoso percussionist Chris Stones from Soundwave summoned up an array of entrancing rhythmic patterns and flourishes from the antique lithophone which he supplemented with the a variety of musical shards of Honister Green Slate which he had found on the floor of the Catherdal Cavern itself.
This performance brought music back to this mountain which has been without it for so long. The performance was very affecting and I doubt if anyone in the audience will forget the uniqueness of this experience for a long time.

Musical Stones TV Channel launched on You Tube

Percussionist and composer Gav Bradshaw has created 'musicalstonestv'
for Keswick Museum. Keswick Museum will use the site to publish videos of people playing the instrument. There are already four videos posted there including a nifty pop video of Gav himself playing in the Museum cut with images of the Lake District, and a video of Chris Stones and myself plying Chris's new piece for the Stones based on Bach.

To go there click on the logo or visit www.youtube.com/musicalstonestv

Wayang ends in a Bazaar Twist

11/07/08

Long Running Cumbrian Show ends in a ‘Bazaar’ Twist


The Musical Stonemason – A Cumbrian Wayang




A unique theatrical show which tells the true Cumbrian story of how the unique instruments known as ‘The Musical Stones of Skiddaw’ were built has now come to the end of its successful 11 month tour.

The show has been performed 9 times in 7 different towns and cities right across England, including the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Sage Music Centre in Gateshead and twice in Keswick itself; where the story of the show originates. The final show was performed on Sunday 6th July to some of the 1,000 visitors at the Cultural Bazaar at Trinity School, Carlisle.

This exciting community arts project was a creative collaboration between the musicians of the Egremont Community Gamelan led by Chris Stones, puppeteers led by artist and master puppeteer Ali McCaw, and writer David Napthine and Jamie Barnes, Curator of Keswick Museum and Art Gallery. The show is presented as a Wayang. Wayang is an ancient Indonesian dramatic art bringing together shadow play and music from the gamelan – the famous Indonesian percussion orchestra. The idea behind The Cumbrian Wayang was to create a unique art work drawing inspiration from Indonesian traditions but with a distinctly Cumbrian flavour. The result was a Wayang like no other, combining puppets that play instruments, colourful shadow imagery and the amazing Musical Stones of Skiddaw, all tied together by the magical sound of the gamelan.

The inspiration for the story ‘The Musical Stonemason’ comes from the famous Musical Stones of Skiddaw – an extraordinary instrument known technically as a lithophone which is made from a rare ‘hornfels’ rock and is housed in Keswick Museum and Art Gallery. The instrument creates a striking musical parallel for the gamelan, and boasts an intriguing history which formed the basis of the story. The peculiar resonant properties of the rocks from which the instrument is made are something of geological mystery. They were first discovered in 1785 by Peter Crosthwaite, founder of the first Keswick Museum, who incorporated them into his new cabinet of curiosities. It was Joseph Richardson though, 55 years later, who fully exploited the musical potential of the Skiddaw stones. A local stonemason and amateur musician, Richardson toiled away for 13 years to create the massive instrument now housed in Keswick Museum and Art Gallery. When Joseph finished the instrument in 1840, with his three sons they became something of a musical sensation, touring the country and playing three times for Queen Victoria! The story of the Wayang tells of Richardson’s obsession with the Skiddaw stones, and imagines a fictional meeting of Richardson and Crosthwaite somewhere on the slopes of Cumbria’s musical mountain. You can learn more about this true story and download free Musical Stones music at www.myspace.com/musicalstones.

The Musical Stonemason – A Cumbrian Wayang was very well received in all the venues it was performed. A total of 800 people have seen the show. It is now hoped the Wayang will be produced as a professionally-made film, which will incorporate filming outside on the side of the Skiddaw itself. This would mean that this unique part of Keswick’s heritage will be preserved forever. It is also hoped that this unique collaboration between Chris Stones - Egremont Community Gamelan/Soundware, Ali McCaw – Changeling Productions and Jamie Barnes - Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, will continue in a new education project for schools using the life and work of Peter Crosthwaite for inspiration.

The story of the Stones comes back home

On Saturday 19th April 2008 Soundwave's community Gamelan group performed 'The Musical Stonemason - A Cumbrian Wayang' on the main stage at Keswick's Theatre by the Lake as part of the La'al Fest. It was a success and The Keswick Reminder reported the show as a highlight of the festival.