Composer John Eacott’s ‘Floodtide’ generates music from the movement of tidal water. A submerged sensor gathers information from the flow, which is converted into musical notation that can be read from screens or mobile phones and performed by musicians.
Previous ‘Floodtide’ concerts have take place at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and the Southbank Centre and every performance is different, reflecting the location in which it originates. Now a permanent listening post has been designed by sculptor Andrew Baldwin to play ‘Floodtide’ through a mechanical organ at riverside arts enclave Trinity Buoy Wharf. It will be launched over the Easter weekend, when visitors will also be able to view the site’s other time- and tide-related artworks.
On Saturday April 19 at 1pm Eacott will officially launch the post and give a talk about his work. Then, from 1.30pm-3.30pm more than 50 musicians will take part in a large-scale performance of ‘Floodtide’ (you can also drop in to listen to the musicians rehearse on Friday April 18 between 11am and 4pm).
Meanwhile, on Sunday April 20 and Monday April 21 the National Maritime Museum will be live streaming ‘Floodtide’ performances from musicians around the world.