6 Yards 0 Feet 6 Inches
Introduction
Works on the nature of memory, proceeding from an examination of one of the Holywell Music Room’s most charismatic leaders John Malchair, set against the backdrop of the city at the time of the Mileways Act (1771).
Background
I have lived in Oxford all my life and have, for as long as I can recall, been interested in its history, seeing the city as a palimpsest, through which its many forms are still in part visible and indeed readable. These extant traces remain within the fabric of its walls, houses, the layout of is streets and buildings such as the Holywell Music Room, in which for over 250 years music has been performed. Even those erasures, where the city has been destroyed leave a trace, in the texts, sketches and music set down by those who have also long since gone.
In 1771, various ‘improvements’ were made to Oxford, brought into being as a result of the Mileways Act of the same year. Many buildings were lost, including the city’s North and East gates and the old Bocardo prison, edifices which Malchair recorded in his many sketches; preserving them just as he did the town’s people in his collection of tunes, recorded throughout the city.
Another trace of those who once lived in Oxford can be found in the 1772 survey conducted John Gwynn. Made as part of continuing improvements, the actions of Gwynn - who could be seen around the town measuring the facades of houses and other buildings - aroused suspicion and alarm in its citizens. But what we have left, to compliment Malchair’s sketches and his collected music, is a long list of names, the streets in which they lived and the size of their dwellings – given in yards, feet and inches. Malchair himself appears on the survey, in Broad Street, occupying a space of 6 yards, 0 feet, 6 inches.
Works
As someone who writes music but cannot read it, I am interested in alternative ways of scoring pieces of work; whether that is drawing on traditional manuscript paper or – as in the case of recent works – using a net of woven string. For this project (6 Yards 0 Feet 6 Inches) I wish to create a score or series of scores comprising the work of John Malchair, the fabric and history of the city and the survey of John Gwynn, all of which will reflect my ongoing interest in memory.