Amleddau: A new work by John Meirion Rea
Artist and Composer John Meirion Rea tells us more about his new work, Amleddau, an experimental film that explores the history of broadcasting in Wales through archive and soundscapes.
Amleddau represents an evolution in my creative practice, a move away from composing ‘pure music’ towards an interest in combining composition with field recording, soundscape, film, and immersive presentation. The initial inspiration for this approach was the discovery of the work of the early pioneers in sound & film montage and radio-art, such as the Hörspiel, or ‘hear plays’ of Walter Ruttman, in 1920’s Germany, particularly the sound work Wochende (Weekend), and his ‘City Symphony’ montage film Berlin – Symphony of a Great City. I was also fascinated by the experimental ‘Radio Ballads’, created for the BBC radio in the late 50’s by Ewan MacColl.
This interdisciplinary approach first came together with the presentation of Atgyfodi (vb revive, vb resurrect), a collaboration with St Fagans Museum of History sound archives, and The BBC National Orchestra of Wales. I was struck by the emotional power of what I heard in the archives; especially the musicality of our dialects, and that these were the lives of ‘real’ people, singing local songs and telling their life stories. It was here that the beginnings of an idea formed for a performance work and installation, based on the powerful emotional resonance of the recordings, also the sound and texture of the recorded media, such as the ‘crackle’ of the Edison Cylinder, and the ‘Phonograph’, and the ‘wow and flutter’ of the tape. I also felt a strong desire to share this hidden history.
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