THE CONDUIT COMPOSER

Sunday 10 June 2012

Recording with Elgar in Pigeonsford?






I have been back to Llangrannog quite a few times now and have recorded the sea in nearly 20 different locations so that I can go into my studio and put all of 'the seas' together as one and then listen to see if I can feel the intensity of Elgar’s composition Welsh Tune.




I am convinced now that I will feel the intensity, having heard and stood in the waves crashing against the towering rocks.







This visit I went for a good walk over the coastal path and it is a moving experience! As I went for this walk, I passed a National Tourist Board Sign telling the story of the Giant Bica who lived in Llangrannog and telling how it is his big foot steps and his raging tooth ache have cut up the land, leaving little rock islands stranded sometimes by water. So I need to think about his footsteps when composing the piece.





I saw a friend while I was down there, Yo, and she said that she thought that Pigeonsford Mansion, where Elgar is known to have stayed when he composed his Welsh Tune, is down the turning opposite the Urdd Centre site.





So we bundled back in the car and pootled off to Pigeonsford to see if we could find it. AND WE DID!!







Or at least we think we might have. It said outside that there are holiday cottages to let in the grounds of the farm so I’m going to ring them up.



Imagine if I can actually go to stay at the place where Elgar stayed and compose my piece there! I would be blown away! If I can, and if it is the right place, I will take my recording studio with me and set it up and the cottage to record it there too.






The grounds are absolutely stunning so I am hoping it is the right place. I think Elgar would have liked this. He was one of the first composers to really experiment with recordings.



Many thanks to The Arts Council of Wales for my Individual Mainline Grant. It really is giving me the opportunity not just to journey through my creative mind, but to challenge and expand it in a way I could never have done otherwise.







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