a musical interlude to take place where the Holy Brook meets the River Kennet with singers, french horn and assorted percussion

presented in association with Water Fest and South Street arts centre

Saturday 21 June 2003

at the junction of Chestnut Walk and Abbey Gardens, Reading

Context

"It is the fate of many rivers to take their rise in almost idyllic surroundings and finish their course amid the clamour of industry; to start their leisurely flow between banks fringed by the rosy spikes of the loosestrife and to end their travail in a stream carrying the flotsam and jetsam of a mercantile age" (Ernest Dormer, local historian, 1937)

Artists in the City commissioned Simon Rackham and Melanie Pappenheim to compose a vocal and instrumental work in celebration of the Holy Brook - one of Reading's ancient hidden waterways. The performances coincided with the opening of a pathway marking the course of the Holy Brook and used excerpts from Adam Sowan's guide, history and map The Holy Brook, or The Granator's Tale published by Two Rivers Press and sponsored by Reading Civic Society.

Project

As a development of choral work with Orlando Gough and Jocelyn Pook in the previous two years, several local singers were involved in the project. Pappenheim and Rackham coordinated four rehearsal workshops in Reading during the month preceding the performances. Two professional singers and a percussionist then joined the group for the public presentations.

"Mute swans and banks alive with the scratchy songs of nesting birds; the Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat and Nightingale. 'South Reading's stretch of the Holy Brook is one of those rare waters that fishes better in winter than summer' I've heard. It swirled fresh and clear the November day I saw it, and its private parts were rich with hips, haws, blackberries and feral strawberries"

Artists

Melanie Pappenheim has worked with many leading contemporary music groups and experimental theatre and dance companies including The Shouting Fence and Bobby Baker's Box Story (both performed in Reading). She appeared in the premiere of Caryl Churchill's The Striker at the National Theatre and played a principal role in Misper an opera for children at Glyndebourne. She is a founder member of the group 3 OR 4 COMPOSERS and has appeared in several short films including The Alien for which she perfected the art of singing backwards. She has sung on many tv and film soundtracks including The History of Britain, Prime Suspect, Eye's Wide Shut and Gangs of New York. Melanie has also written music for several radio plays.

Simon Rackham studied composition and French horn at the Royal Academy of Music. He has composed a great deal of concert music (over 150 solo piano pieces) as well as scores for both dance and theatre. He co-founded the music theatre group 3 OR 4 COMPOSERS. His piece Whichever Way Your Nose Bends was recorded by the six piano ensemble Piano Circus. With John Miller he formed the duo 'Ornamental Balustrade'. He is also active in the field of visual art with exhibitions of sculpture and painting and has recently exhibited text based works at bookartbookshop in London's East End.