An evening of songs inspired by Salthouse 09
The Church of St Nicholas in Salthouse is unlike any other venue for contemporary art in the UK. It is not an anonymous white cube gallery, but instead it is a working church brimming with specific context: a light-filled 15th century Grade 1 listed building overlooking the North Norfolk marshes and coastline. It is a remarkable, magical and exciting space for displaying art, layered with centuries of history and full of unexpected places in which to discover new artworks. The village is recorded in the Domesday Book as ‘a house for making salt’, and it is from this reference that curator Simon Martin found the inspiration for the theme of the 2009 exhibition: Salt of the Earth.
This Salt
in the salt cellar
I once saw in the salt mines.
I know
you won’t
believe me
but
it sings
salt sings, the skin
of the salt mines
sings
with a mouth smouthered
by the earth.
Pablo Neruda “Ode to Salt”
When asked to perform a concert in the church as part of the 2009 Festival, we decided to create a programme of music that responded in the first instance, to the exhibition’s theme and then, more specifically, to the individual works of art commissioned. Using Salt of the Earth as our starting point, we brought together music from different genres and historical periods reflecting all the different aspects of Salt – from its use in cooking, to fishermen at sea, and finally the bitter tears of loss at the end of a relationship – and this formed the thread of our narrative from the Baroque to the West End and back again.
As this concert was inspired by art we wondered if it would be possible to create further pieces of art, generated by the audience response to the songs. In the centre of the programme we printed a series of empty circles and on the pews where the audience sat we placed coloured pencils. The audience was invited to respond to each of the songs in those circles in any way they wished – with a shape, a word, a picture or just a splash of colour – anything went. At the end of the evening we collected the sheets and were amazed at the new pieces of art created that represented this evening of music.
“Salt Sings” was a magical experience for us. The church itself is an incredible space, with an almost perfect accoustic for singing. Curator Simon Martin had stripped the space back to the bare beauty of its architecture, and the art work was perfectly framed by the white walls and soaring roof of the building itself. As we performed, the setting sun sent shafts of light onto the art work and for a very memorable moment, lit up Marcela Trsova’s beautiful salt crystal boat hanging above our heads, just as we began “Go Little Boat”, the song this work had inspired. Later, as it grew darker, great flocks of swallows soared behind the huge windows above the alter and made a spectacular air show as we drew our concert to its conclusion.
Repertoire included:
Place Settings – Jeremy Nicholas inspired Brian Whelan’s You are the Salt of the Earth – the Light of the World
Fish and Chips from Charlie Girl – Heneker and Taylor, inspired by Colin Self’s The Fishy Tale of the Battered Wife
Les Berceaux – Fauré, inspired by Malca Schotten’s Alan Coxswain Mechanic, RNLI and Fisherman
Go Little Boat – Kern/Wodehouse, inspired by Marcela Trsova’s Light Vessel
Stormy Weather – Harold Arlen, inspired by Jo Hincks’ April
Sure On This Shining Night – Barber and Moondance – Van Morrison, inspired by David Page’s Some Views of the Marsh
Mein Schöner Stern (’My Beautiful Star’)- Schumann, inspired by Margie Britz’s Firmament for Galla Placidia
At The Last Lousy Moments of Love – Bolcombe, inspired by Ruthanne Tudball’s Lot’s Wife