About
Produced by Alan Hall, Chris Brookes and Paolo Pietropaolo
Duration: 43'32"
First broadcast on 5th October 2008, BBC Radio 3
The inhabitants of Elizabethan England were gripped by sound far more
strongly than we are today. They not only heard sound differently, but
they heard different sound, and they listened to a much wider variety of
it than our modern ears do. Their acoustic matrix was more complex,
their 'heard horzion' further away and in terms of acoustic ecology,
more 'populations' of sound existed before later industrial society
threatened many of those sound 'species' with extinction.
Inspired
by the observations and ideas of acoustic academics, artists and
composers, 'Hark' builds a soundtrack of Elizabethan society.
"It is sound alone, that doth immediately, and incorporeally affect us most."
Francis Bacon, 1626.
For broadcast in CBC's Ideas, 29 September and BBC Radio 3's Sunday
Feature, 5 October. Repeated on BBC Radio 3 1 September 2009.
The CBC version received the Grand Prix Marulic 2009 in the Documentary Category, with the following citation: "Sound
is used not just to illustrate but to bring new dimensions, to tell new
stories to the listener ... The listener is encouraged, forced even, to
think of the soundtrack of today, the noise pollution which surrounds
us every moment..."
Also, Hark! was awarded both the Gold Medal for Best Sound at the 2009 New York Festivals Awards for Radio Programming and Promotion and the festival's Grand Award for Best Sound (selected from the gold winners).
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