Dominic Murcott: Harmonic Canon

Music, sound art and public sculpture meld together with the LP launch of The Harmonic Canon, Dominic Murcott’s British Composer Award winning composition featuring one half-tonne double bell, an array of unusual metal percussion and two virtuosic percussionists.

Created in collaboration with sculptor Marcus Vergette and percussionists arx duo, The Harmonic Canon is both the name of the piece and the double bell that was custom-made for it. Comprising of two bells tuned a semitone apart, the bell was created using Finite Element Analysis, a type of structural analysis that determines the vibration patterns of the bell, manipulating its harmonic series to create a complex series of frequencies that make up a note. The result is a sound world that straddles consonance and dissonance, murky and clear, pure and distorted. Parts of the bells are in tune with each other, while others are out of tune, creating a unique ‘beating’ between the bells. Oh – and did we mention it spins?

With performances taking place across the Albert Hall, the evening will take you on a journey from the ground floor, where there’s a live set from analogue tinkerer Tom Richards and nonclassical DJs, up to the gallery – where The Harmonic Canon will be performed alongside a new work for handheld percussion from emerging composer Heather Stephenson.