Bill Vine - Turbulent Flow
A masterful and moving performance of Bill Vine's latest composition
On Sunday evening, Norfolk based composer and musician Bill Vine premiered Turbulent Flow, his brand new clarinet quintet in which he sonically explores how tempestous energy forces are captured and harnessed by the rotations of wind-pumps and turbines, both on and offshore. The first live performance of this piece was the high point of an evening that also featured film, poetry and prose, and also some local history. It was held at Norwich Puppet Theatre, a venue that I had not previously visited.
The evening began with a screening of 'And We Might Briefly Resonate', a contemporary dance film, produced and directed by Vine, in which two dancers (Kris Davis and Owen Spooner) explore an anonymous white interior space. Over the course of the film, their memory of that space and the movements of their bodies (choreographed by Vinicius Salles and captured by videographer Liam Roberts) are accompanied by Vine's original soundtrack.
This first half of the evening also included a poetry reading by Helen Vine, a selection of her poems that each lent themselves to the theme of the evening - some location specific, but all emphasising the need for sustainable energy in order to support our planet for future generations.
A special guest was Debra Nicholson, custodian and owner of Thurne Windmill, originally built in 1885, and restored to working order in 1950 by engineer and windmill enthusiast Bob Morse. Nearby is Nicholson's home, and The Wind Energy Museum, a unique collection of working wind mills and pumps, some of which were originally constructed to help drain the marshes. Some of the field recording used in 'Turbulent Flow' were made at this Norfolk riverside location.
A prose reading from writer Wendy Constance, again themed around the subject of renewable energy, and the need to reduce carbon emissions, concluded the first half of the evening.
We could hear the musicians sound-checking, but could not see them. The five clarinettists (Ant Bailey and Bill Vine - bass clarinet; Fliss Vine, Kate Munro and Melissa Youngs - Bb clarinet), and live visuals artist Liam Roberts, were seated behind a large white screen, onto which the visuals to 'Turbulent Flow' were projected. Only when the screen went dark would we capture a shadowy glimpse of the six artists performing this brand new work. Each of the four movements is site-specific, and each is inspired by both the location and the natural sounds to be heard there. 'Repps With Bastwick' bristles with the energy and the metallic clanking of the old wind-pumps; 'Fitou (j'entends les moulins)' conjures up the hot summer ambience of the French Occitaine, and the line of giant wind turbines that dominate the skyline. 'Scroby Sands' mimics the audacious grandiosity of the massive wind farms presently being constructed just off the Norfolk coastline, with the turbulent energy of North Sea waves and maritime storms captured and transformed into beautiful harmonic structures by each of the five clarinets. And, for the final movement, we return to Thurne Mill, and the gentle nostalgia of wooden wind sails creaking and groaning their way through their endless 360 degree rotations.
'Turbulent Flow' was an immersive and fascinating evening, culminating in a masterful and moving performance of Bill Vine's latest composition. The full studio recording is set to be released on April 8th, DVD's of Liam Roberts accompanying visuals, and books of both Helen's poetry and Wendy's writings are also available. All can be pre-ordered from Bill Vine's Bandcamp page.
