This is the sound of everyone who sat in or sent in ideas for The Listening Chair all together :)
I'm currently sitting in the cafe consort at the Royal Albert Hall with 8 hours and counting until stage time for the premiere of The Listening Chair. Six months ago, Eric Whitacre asked if I'd like to be a part of his BBC Prom. There was no hesitation, what an incredible honour to have a song arranged by Eric, not to mention premiering it at the Proms with such an awesome group of musicians including the BBC singers choir, soprano Hila Plitmann and The Ensemble Bash backing me up on body percussion.
For those that don't know what the dickens I'm talking about… The Listening Chair project is a classic designer egg-chair I had retrofitted with audio/visual equipment to capture passer-byes thoughts to the question 'What is the song that still needs to be written?' The crowd-sourced video responses are uploaded to the chair's website along with videos sent in via the web.
From the Sydney Opera House to the Royal Albert Hall, both The Chair and I have interacted with hundreds of people of all ages in 6 different locations and those curious and willing to engage, helped hatch the song that will be premiering tonight!
I was half hoping for one common 'song void' but alas no, that would have been too easy! I only knew this song was to be A Cappella. The 'spark' happened on the train over to the hills of Snowdonia, three weeks prior to tonight (cutting it fine as always, nothing like a deadline to kick the Heap into action) where I was to walk, scribble and sing this song into existence. As I watched the videos on my laptop, I noticed the thoughts I most deeply connected with were from those of my own age. Big searching questions! The ones that have you gazing out into the distance wondering 'How did I get here, Is this what I want?' kind of thing....Who'd have thought the listening chair would help me listen to a quiet voice in me. So thank you everyone for that! From there, I started seeing patterns of enquiry, or song wishes, emerge within other age groups.
I decided I would write a piece that musically and lyrically looks at life in stages, from 'day dot' to death and how they interconnect and affect one another. Every minute representing a 7 year period. I've only experienced a part of that so it's five minutes long (inducing a few seconds of 'woosh' representing being in the womb!). 7 years from now, I'll write another minute and so on, continuing to look to The Listening Chair for parallels and inspiration. Keeping the project alive with enquiry and me continuously connecting to the different stages of my own life. Regrouping, seeing patterns, taking a wider angle view. I'd love to make a video where you see me from baby to old age singing the song. You see my ever changing face, grey hair take over, lines on my face emerge. I'd only do up to age 35 for now obviously but I like the idea of every seven years connecting to what I feel is a turning point in my own life, musically, visually, vocally, collaboratively.
There are many references throughout this piece from people's suggestions. For example, a lullaby, so the first minute is written to be adapted by the parent or child when sung. Here are the lyrics.
(Italics to be personalised by the child or the parent by swapping 'i' for 'you')
Are just some of the things I like
So the more I can get of them in my day
The better I sleep at night
Mum, Dad, Giles, Lizzie + Juliet, Uncle James
Are just some of the people I love
So the more of all them I can get in my day
The better I'll sleep at night
I can moonwalk, build castles, play ping pong, talk to animals, hold my breath for a really long time... and tell the future
Are just 6 of the things I can do
And the more of these things I can fit in my day
The better I sleep at night
We'll film a more in depth 'making of' where i'll cite specific suggestions from people and reference how I weaved these into the song. For now though… I need to get on and practice! On my demo recording of this song all the vocal parts are sung by me but for this special performance, Eric Whitacre has expanded it for choir. It's a whole different ball game singing with a choir and a conductor! What I thought I'd rehearsed to perfection suddenly flies out the window when I rehearse with them. Hoping it'll be alight on the night. You can tune in and hear for yourself as it'll be broadcast live 10.15pm BST tonight as part of Eric Whitacre's Prom (no.62) very soon. Eek! Wish me luck! I'm on in the first 15 minutes and after that I'm going to take a seat next to my loved ones I've just sung about and enjoy the rest of the concert! You should too because his pieces were sounding absolutely glorious in the Royal Albert Hall today. Made me want to write a whole different piece altogether but there we go. Perhaps I'll do that for my own Prom one of these days ;) x