David Thomas, Eliza Carthy, Adam Bushell & Ed Baxter - Carousel Commission

The Victorian Carousel “Standard 54” organ located on Brighton Beach is the finest of its kind in the country, if not the world, and yet not one original piece of music has ever been composed for this unique instrument.

Acclaimed musicians Eliza Carthy, David Thomas and Adam Bushell propose to collaborate together for the first time to create a new score, hand cut on cardboard books, to be performed by this organ as part of a large ensemble featuring internationally acclaimed performers, trained musicians and a local school orchestra as part of a public performance on the Brighton seafront.

An innovative reinvigoration of antiquated technology, this commission will also result in a new grammar book for the Standard 54 organ to be written, enabling composers worldwide with the tools to create a repertoire for this undiscovered musical resource.

Eliza Carthy is an internationally acclaimed performer, known for her interpretation, and extension, of the English folk tradition. David Thomas was raised in Cleveland, Ohio and lives in Hove, just along the beach from the Carousel.  His international reputation rests on his role as founder of the rock band Pere Ubu, heralded as ‘inventors of the new wave’ in 1977. Adam Bushell is the Director of the new music ensemble Tacet Ensemble, based in Brighton. The project was conceived by Ed Baxter, Programme Director of Resonance104.4FM, and is to be produced by London Musicians' Collective.

“The idea of a new work for the carousel at Brighton beach captured our imagination, alongside the involvement of musicians from many different disciplines.” New Music Award panel

www.l-m-c.org.uk
www.resonancefm.com

Do you think that this is an innovative idea? Would you like to ride the carousel whilst this new piece was performed? Click here to let us know your thoughts...

Responses so far

"Oh yes I would love to! And I wouldn’t be the only one to travel many miles in order to experience such a carousel ride! This sounds like an absolutely stupendous and innovative idea for creating new music for an old instrument and reinvigorating old technologies. Not only will it also be good for the town of Brighton as a well known seaside resort with seaside fun to be had but also, including school children will give them the opportunity to broaden their musical horizons – working with musicians of such calibre form different backgrounds shows how the boundaries of any genre can meet and be crossed creating, what I expect to be, exciting results and wonderful new music!"

"What a great idea. I think that maybe a tad too much new music relies on 'found sounds' or abstract mechanic generation so it's a delight to see that something so new is being created using 'old' methods to revitalise an 'old' instrument. The fusion of English Traditional/cutting edge musical experiences will inform the work in an accessible way - and what fun it'll be to ride the carrousel when the work is completed! This will engage 'joe public' in an amusing and imaginative way; bring some of England's wonderful traditional Folk material to bear on the new score, while leaving a new legacy for further work and other composers to tap into."