Saeflod

Helen Ottaway’s new kind of requiem has been six years in the making.

Experience music in the forest, a requiem for the Earth. You are invited to interact with a series of sound boxes placed amongst the trees. Walk, listen, pause and move.

Prompted by the death of her mother, Helen Ottaway’s research began with her participation in the Sura Medura International Artists Residency in Sri Lanka in 2017. Beside the Indian Ocean she created soundscapes, performances and tunes for musical box. On her return to the UK she continued to develop ideas including creating Wind & Unwind for Dorset Moon (Sherborne Abbey) in 2019. She also delivered her talk A New Kind of Requiem at conferences and galleries across the South West.

Saeflod combines installation and performance. Text, music and found sound – and invites active participation from audience and visitors. It is a requiem for all our losses – human and environmental. Performers will include Helen’s long time collaborator singer Melanie Pappenheim and the specially created Saeflod Singers.

The performances of Saeflod are at the following times:
Sat 16 September: 3 – 3.45pm / 7 – 7.45pm
Sun 17 September: 3 – 3.45pm / 7 – 7.45pm

Composer Helen Ottaway
Librettist Rosie Jackson
Sound designer Alastair Goolden
Set and costume design Anya Hobson (3rd year student at AUB)
Costume making AUB first year students
Set and costume realisation Maisie Perkins (2nd year student at AUB)
Recorded instrumental material – Orchestra for the Earth
Voices Melanie Pappenheim

with the Saeflod Singers:
Lucy Davis
Alexandra Draper
Thorwald Stein

Created and produced by Artmusic

This is a world premiere, commissioned by Activate Performing Arts for Inside Out Dorset 2023. Activate has supported this work throughout its development.

The recorded instrumental material for Saeflod is provided by the Orchestra for the Earth, an organisation that uses world class music to inspire, educate and influence audiences to protect our planet.