ILLUMINATED RIVER

Illuminated River is a large-scale public installation project (Designer: Leo Villareal). (Sponsors: Rothschild Foundation, Arcadia, the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the Reuben Foundation and Mayor of London).

Illuminated River commissioned a series of musical compositions to accompany visual footage of the project for a December 2021 promotional campaign. I composed a score for the Guildhall Session Orchestra that was among the 9 pieces (of 40) selected by Illuminated River for the campaign.

I thought about the impressionist interest in water, and found out that the bridge I was composing for (Waterloo Bridge) had been painted by Claude Monet over 100 years ago. The woodwind orchestration references the work of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. At the same time, I wanted to evoke the festive feeling of Christmas in London. I employed bells to this end, and chose to base the composition around an original reharmonization of O Little Town of Bethlehem. The trumpet fanfare at the end of the piece adds hint of pomposity.

Illuminated River is the first cohesive lighting vision for the Thames bridges in central London, celebrating the structures as architectural, social and historical landmarks, and creating a symbolic link across the political, financial and cultural centres of the capital. At 3.2 miles in length, Illu­min­ated River spans from Lon­don to Lam­beth bridges, mak­ing it the longest pub­lic art com­mis­sion in the world. It will last for at least ten years and the Foundation will fund all maintenance, replacement and electricity costs.

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Client:

Illuminated River

Project Duration:

1 week

Date:

December 2021