The Rising Sea Symphony

BBC - Between the Ears
The dramatic effects of climate change evoked in words, sounds and a powerful new musical work composed by Kieran Brunt

Over four movements of rich and evocative music, the listener is transported to the front line of the climate crisis, with stories from coastal Ghana – where entire villages are being swept away by the rising sea – to Norway’s Svalbard archipelago in the high arctic where the ice is melting with alarming speed. The dramatic final movement ponders two contrasting possible outcomes to the crisis.  

The Rising Sea Symphony

Length 00:29:17

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In this ambitious new commission for BBC Radio 3, Kieran Brunt weaves together electronic, vocal and orchestral elements recorded in isolation by players from the BBC Philharmonic. Each musician recorded their part individually at home and these recordings were then painstakingly combined by sound engineer Donald MacDonald to create a symphonic sound.

Documentary producer Laurence Grissell and composer Kieran Brunt have collaborated to produce an ambitious and original evocation of the causes and consequences of rising, warming oceans.

Credits

Composer: Kieran Brunt
Producer: Laurence Grissell

Electronics and violin: Kieran Brunt
Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic
Vocals: Kieran Brunt, Josephine Stephenson, Augustus Perkins Ray

Sound mix: Donald MacDonald

Interviewees:
Sulley Lansah, BBC Accra Office
Hilde Fålun Strøm and Sunniva Sørby, heartsintheice.com
Blaise Agresti, former head of Mountain Rescue, Chamonix

Blaise Agresti: recorded by Sarah Bowen

Wildlife recordings: Chris Watson

Newsreaders: Susan Rae & Tom Sandars

Additional engineering: Ben Andrewes

Links

• Lethal Heating: Arts
• Lethal Heating: Communication
• Lethal Heating: Media