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| The Guardian made music: 'found' sounds and food, chiffchaffs and Labour contenders Composer Matthew Herbert will turn one day's paper into music at the Royal Festival Hall – with help from the chefsOn Saturday 25 September the Guardian was full of speculation about who the next leader of the Labour party might be. There was a recipe for pear tarte tatin; a report on settlers on the West Bank; Ken Livingstone prophesied he would be the next mayor of London; Weekend magazine's regular "let's move to" slot suggested upping sticks to Devon.What would this recipe for a newspaper be like if transformed into music?Audiences at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 20 November will find out: the experimental composer Matthew Herbert is creating an hour-long piece of music based on that single edition of the Guardian.The work, called One Day, will be a musical journey through the paper, performed by the London Sinfonietta under conductor Baldur Brönnimann and featuring guests including chefs, sportsmen and women and Guardian journalists.According to Herbert, who has produced and remixed artists such as John Cale, Björk and Ennio Morricone, the paper itself is acting as "a kind of musical score".Herbert will construct music around individual stories in the paper, partly using "found" sounds, including recordings he made of the printing presses pumping out the edition on the night of 24 September.While the precise shape of the work has yet to be finalised, he said he also hoped to sample sounds such as the birdsong mentioned in the Country Diary (on that day a "clashing chorus" of chiffchaffs), recordings from the West Bank, and a tape or digital file of a journalist's interview before it was transformed into an article."There will be people on stage who were in that edition of the paper, as well as journalists contributing on stage," he said. He will also have "chefs re-creating some of the recipes from the food pages", complete with delicious smells.It will be a personal route through the paper – according to the composer, he might be just as interested in creating music to go with a small ad in the classified section as the main story on the front page. And, he says, "because I am a reader of the Guardian I felt I had a bit of leeway to be critical. So part of what I am doing is to make the connections between, say, a story on West Bank settlers and 'let's move to'; or the recipes on the one hand and stories about the world food crisis on the other."Alan Rusbridger, the editor of the Guardian, said that "seeing an edition of the Guardian being brought to life in this extraordinarily creative way is a remarkably intriguing prospect".Part of the artistic purpose behind the work, said Herbert, was a feeling that music has become disengaged from current affairs. "If you were an alien and tried to deduce what was going on in the world from the bestselling music of the past 100 years you would struggle," he said. "Whereas there is much more connection between the worlds of literature and visual art and what's going on in the world."He added: "Musicians have long served a function as storytellers. Yet the biggest stories, the ones that often have a direct impact on our lives, are rarely retold in contemporary music. By choosing one edition of a national paper as both score and subject matter, I'm forced to confront this paradox head on."Herbert had only one complaint about the paper of 25 September. He had been eager to create a passage of music with ping-pong players keeping time, like a metronome, for the musicians. Alas, he has found not a single mention of table tennis in the entire issue.One Day is at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 20 November.Matthew HerbertThe GuardianNational newspapersNewspapersThe GuardianCharlotte Higginsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Steel loan cancellation 'wrong' Labour leader Ed Miliband says the government was wrong to axe an £80m loan to Sheffield steelmaker Forgemasters. bbc.co.uk |
Fewer British students admitted to university The number of British students admitted to university dropped this year amid growing demand for places from mainland Europe. telegraph.co.uk |
US embassy cables: British businessman ordered to revamp run down Saudi palace to host candle-lit party for Prince Charles Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 14:37S E C R E T JEDDAH 000700 SIPDIS SIPDIS EO 12958 DECL: 11/08/2016 TAGS PGOV, PINR, SCUL SUBJECT: TALES OF A PRINCE: CG MEETS WITH GOVERNOR OF ASIR'S FIXERClassified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller,for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).1. (S) On November 7 the CG met with a prominent Western businessman who is close to the Governor of Asir, Prince Khalid bin Faisal. The businessman is known as a "fixer" for Prince Khalid. During their conversation, he recounted to the CG a number of his interactions with the Prince.2. (S) Their first encounter was at the prince's majlis in Abha, the capital of Asir Province. The businessman described the majlis to the CG and spoke of its largesse, its lavish decor, and its eclectic makeup of people: tribesmen, mutawa, and others. During the proceedings, a waiter approached with coffee and tea. XXXXXXXXXXXX the businessman recalled, he knew that he and Prince Khalid would get along well.3. (S) The businessman's second encounter with the prince was not actually with the prince. He had been invited to the prince's home to meet with his family. He recalled how surprised he had been at such a gesture. XXXXXXXXXXXX4. (S) The businessman's third encounter with Prince Khalid coincided with the visit of Prince Charles of the United Kingdom. He informed the CG that Prince Khalid and Prince Charles share a love of painting. Khalid opened a "painters village" in Abha, the capital of Asir, called Al Muftah. People, including faces, as well as objects are painted by Al Muftah artists, just as Khalid does in his own works of art. (Note: This is very interesting since painting is frowned upon by many conservative Saudis, and painting people and faces is forbidden according to the Wahabi interpretation of Islam. End note.) The businessman told the CG about a call that he received from a nervous Prince Khalid because of the party that he had offered to host for Prince Charles. During that time Prince Khalid, who has since built a new palace, was living in his father, the deceased King Faisal's old palace. His mother, Queen Effet, lived upstairs on the second floor of the palace, but the first floor needed attention. The palace was described as aged and in dire need of renovation. The businessman recounted how he was called and asked by the Prince, to take care of renovating the ground floor of the palace for a party that would take place in three weeks from the time of the phone call. The businessman asked whether he had a choice, and when told an emphatic "no," then agreed to do it.5. (S) According to the businessman, the first thing that he did was cut off all electricity so that no one would be able to turn on the lights and see what was taking place. Secondly, he inserted styrofoam into the holes in the walls. Thirdly, he set up projectors to project colors and designs onto the walls. On the evening of the party candles were the only source of lighting throughout the house. The plan was successful as the Prince of Wales commented on how luxurious and beautiful the palace was, despite the fact that it was not. Prince Khalid was very happy and the relationship between the businessman and the prince was cemented. (Note: The prince's old palace has since become a university. End note.)6. (S) The next day Prince Khalid phoned this businessman and invited him to meet the Prince of Wales. What the prince did not know was that while the businessman had sacrificed three weeks to renovate the palace, his sister had been visiting from out of the country and he had other obligations, which he disregarded. The businessman ultimately declined the invitation to meet with the two princes. When he received a phone call and a summons, the next day, from Prince Khalid, he was frightened. He did not know what to expect and he feared the worst.6. (S) When the businessman arrived to meet Prince Khalid he was pleasantly surprised to receive a painting by each of the princes, as gifts. He was also shocked to receive, what Prince Khalid called, a "tip," in the amount of SR50,000 ($13,333). He confided to the CG that Prince Khalid is "known for being extremely cheap." The businessman concluded by reiterating how close his relationship is to Prince Khalid and sharing more fond memories of the "phony dinner" at the prince's palace.GFOELLERPrince CharlesMonarchySaudi ArabiaUS foreign policyThe US embassy cablesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
OBR predicts 160,000 fewer public sector jobs will be lost About 160,000 fewer public sector workers are facing redundancy than originally feared as a result of the Government's spending review, the Office for Budget Responsibility said as it raised its UK growth forecast. telegraph.co.uk |