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.

Famous Keswick Stones perform in London after 150-year break

'The Musical Stonemason' – A Cumbrian Wayang

Keswick Museum and Art Gallery's popular stone xylophone – 'The Musical Stones of Skiddaw' have once more been delighting audiences with their unique sound, but this time in the capital city. The Musical Stones are the basis of a new theatrical show which was the result of a unique three-way collaboration. This exciting community arts project is a creative collaboration between the musicians of the Egremont Community Gamelan led by Chris Stones from Soundwave, puppeteers led by artist and master puppeteer Ali McCaw, writer David Napthine (Changeling Productions), and Jamie Barnes of the Keswick Museum and Art Gallery. Wayang is an ancient Indonesian dramatic art bringing together shadow play and music from the gamelan – the famous Indonesian percussion orchestra. The idea behind this Cumbrian Wayang was to create a unique art work drawing inspiration from Indonesian traditions but with a distinctly Cumbrian flavour. The result is a Wayang like no other, combining puppets that play instruments, colourful shadow imagery, amazing Musical Stones, and 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 and housed in Keswick Museum and Art Gallery. The instrument creates a striking musical parallel for the gamelan, and boasts an intriguing history which forms 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 museum in Keswick, who incorporated them into his cabinet of curiosities. It was Joseph Richardson (pictured above) however, 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. With his sons they became something of a musical sensation, touring the country and playing three times for Queen Victoria! The story of 'The Musical Stonemason' 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. The 13-strong cast of 'The Musical Stonemason' went on tour with the show throughout September, beginning with a world premiere to a capacity crowd in Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, then on to the prestigious Royal Festival Hall in London's South Bank for two dates as part of an international Wayang Festival. The first leg of the tour then finished up with a performance in the futuristic Sage music centre in Gateshead. It is believed that the last time the Musical Stones of Skiddaw were played in London was in 1865 by the Richardson sons themselves. Jamie Barnes, the manager of Keswick Museum and Art Gallery said 'It was a great thrill to bring the Musical Stones down to London, knowing how much they had delighted audiences in the capital in the mid-nineteenth century'.