Confluence
Dressing the Stone
There were once reputed to be over 100 mills in the catchment of the River Stour, though sadly only a fraction remain - of them, a few still work. According to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings there were less than 60 mills in the UK which were working commercially in 1997. At the turn of the century there were 15,000. In a unique experiment to give the river a voice, in December 1999, the recorded sounds of a working mill were amplified and woven into a magical and extra-ordinary music-theatre work initially called the musical BOX by Karen Wimhurst. This title was drawn from the Thomas Hardy poem; it describes a Stour-side mill which sang a 'thin mechanic air' and features 'A spirit who sang to the indoor tune'.
The amplified sounds of Sturminster Newton's water mill were joined by a singer, Frances Lynch and a percussionist, Ron Vint, to explore the mythologised relationship between the miller and a reddle-woman (who once would sell red dye to the millers to paint their millstones, so that the quality of the stone for grinding could be checked), otherwise the alchemical characters of White King and Red Queen.
Local electricians were challenged to become lighting engineers to floodlight the mill creatively with us, a sound engineer worked on amplification, hot chestnuts and soup were provided by local scouts and cafe, and a group of local people were rehearsed by Helen Porter to act as chorus for the unfolding drama.
Karen wrote: "The Musical Box is scored for soprano, percussionist and chorus with sounds from the mill itself providing a recorded back drop. The initial inspiration for this piece came from Sturminster mill itself (the various sounds made by machinery inside the mill) and my time spent with Peter Loosmore (the curator of the mill) who explained in great detail the history and the workings of the mill.
On the libretto, Peter is a great teacher and his words brim over with poetic enthusiasm and energy (fuelled by the fact his grandfather was a miller at Sturminster when he was a child). This meant I was able to draw a large part of the libretto directly from his spoken words. I then searched for a dramatic framework to hold the piece together. Peter mentioned that he had a red fibre glass lion upstairs in the mill, the lion from a pub in Sturminster which has a history of frightening children in the town. He also showed us some reddle, sold by a reddle or raddle woman and used to mark up the mill stones (reddle sellers are also traditionally bogey characters, often covered in their red dye). These two items, combined with the white of the flour and the association of fire with mills (they often burnt down as flour is highly combustible), sparked in my mind an association with alchemy. This led to two characters - the miller (the white king) and the reddle woman (the red queen) in the piece who enact out an alchemical wedding which brings about a transformation (in alchemy base metal turning to gold). On a concrete level, the idea of golden water felt appropriate as a symbol of the mills ability to create electricity. The reddle woman also relates to Thomas Hardy. His novel The Return Of The Native, written in Sturminster, has Digory Venn, the reddle man, as its principle male character. The text sung by the reddle woman, it's strange love call, argument and reconciliation, is all couched in terms of the working mill so remains fairly abstract. However, the line of the love story, meeting and marriage is fairly clear as a story archetype.
For the music, the percussionist is dressed in white and is the miller/white king. He plays a snare drum with the mill sounds providing a rhythmic counterpoint for him to drum to. Some of the machines, such as the hopper and the winnower, have a very regular pulse able to provide the rhythmic feel and structure of the music. The white noise of a snare drum roll has associations for me with the roar of water. Having seen Evelyn Glennie in concert playing solo snare drum, I was aware of the potential of the instrument and the different sound possibilities to explore. The score also has a part for bells and other ringing instruments that we pre-recorded and mixed in with sounds of the mill starting up.
The reddle woman (red queen) was sung by Frances Lynch. The writing fully exploits her huge range, variety of colour and vocal technique. Frances also has a lot of experience with singing close-miked and using experimental music in a dramatic context.
The chorus parts are very simple and repetitious, designed to be easily picked up and help the story telling. The chorus either repeats a simple refrain between sections or sometimes echoes the solo singer. The piece finishes with a Round simple enough for the audience to pick up.
Because the piece was to be performed outside in the dark in December, economy of resources seemed to be a priority in the piece. The percussionist only has to set up one drum. Although the musical material for the two performers is demanding, there are only two soloists to stage, light etc.
Although we were lucky with the weather, for both rehearsals and performance, the outdoor conditions didn't provide such a challenge as one might have supposed. My fear that sound gets lost out of doors were allayed by our sound engineer Richard Walker providing a really good service. When the mill was lit it looked immediately more beautiful than any stage set. The main problems encountered were those of resources. However economical one tries to make a score, music theatre of any kind requires certain backup. We needed a production manager and crew and a director. We also needed to timetable more carefully, planning a clearer rehearsal schedule".
The musical Box formed the 'grand finale' to a day of activities in Sturminster Newton prompted by Confluence / Common Ground. A large and successful farmer's market had been organised in the town centre by North Dorset District Council's LA21 officer, after a suggestion from Common Ground. The dedication of the town's Christmas tree included carolling by children from William Barnes Primary School, featuring work which developed in workshop with Helen Porter. The Confluence team worked with a trio of Heather Coombs, Sam Sastry (pipes) and Cliff Stapleton (hurdy gurdy), who gave a workshop at the primary school, as well as helping to create the extra-ordinary atmosphere at the Mill itself.
Between 250 and 300 people came to the Mill on a cold but clear night in a week of gales and lashing rain. Some people rang to apologise for not coming from some distance because of the weather, but we were fortunate in having a crisp clear sky. We encouraged the event and rehearsals to be videotaped to broadcast quality for our own use and for the town's view of itself at the turn of the Millennium. The production was described by the Blackmore Vale Magazine as 'startling and highly enjoyable'
The poet James Crowden was in the audience at the mill, the following day he sent to us two pieces he had spontaneously written as a result.
Since being re-named Dressing the Stone, the piece has received several new productions. At Walford Mill in Wimborne, with a group of young percussionists, 100 singers of the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and the mill itself as backdrop, the raddle woman and miller (again Frances Lynch and Ron Vint) played out their dual roles as mythical red queen and white king. The recorded sounds of Sturminster Newton Mill which form part of the piece set the timbers of Walford Mill shivering.
We missed the closeness of the river and the atmosphere which darkness gave to the premier upstream, but the strengthened chorus and young percussionists added power and held the audience rapt.
The drama, music and colour of this piece came not only to the Wimborne Festival, but to an international audience as well, being performed at the Oper Festival in Dusseldorf and Intro in Maastricht during the summer.
Frances, Ron and Karen travelled to Dusseldorf in August; Karen takes up the story: "On arriving in Dusseldorf we were taken out to see our performance space, a large paper mill on the edge of the city. Our hearts sank! It was an extremely dramatic but also extremely large venue! The sound system appeared to be tiny! Miles of cabling would be required to get the mikes to the top of the thirty-foot building.
The morning of the performance we all had to arrive at 7.00 am and start work. It was a race against time! The performance was due to happen around lunchtime when the audience, who were being specially bussed out would arrive. My small choir of singers arrived mid-morning to run through the music and Frances and Ron ran miles over the building testing mikes, sorting positions etc. We managed to do 10 minutes of a technical rehearsal and then we were on. The coach zoomed into view and that was it.
Still, as nerve wracking as it was, everything went well and the performance was warmly received. It looked great, Frances and Ron performing from an iron bridge suspended in the air and the top of the mill building. The sound system managed to just about hold up and the choir valiantly sang on. A few German beers at the end of the day were definitely needed".
