Familiar and strange sea

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

"Hearing the sounds of the Caspian Sea in Derbent the most southerly Russian City made me think of the wider global south. A world of uneven development, war, other people, migrants taking to the sea seeking a safe place to live. Then also a place where babies can be held close in their mother’s arms and sung to. The sea connects all on the planet and is vital to our futures. It can be hostile, sustaining, and soothing as its rhythm wraps its arms around us.
"I used the sound of the Caspian Sea in the form I was sent it to start and sustain the piece. I extended it to include other rhythms other melodies, other sounds and other voices. Voices of people from around the world saying the word lullaby in their language.
"These words were then reversed to echo the waves swash and backwash. It concludes with the sound of another sea many miles away from Derbent sounding the same but different. The Familiar and Strange Sea."
Stuart Wilding lap harp, percussion
Gary Cove flute
Thanks to Akira, Antonio Arca, Bilal Shad, Kamila Wisniewska, Mario Guarnieri, Michael Groom, Sarah B for lending their voices
Caspian Sea at Derbent reimagined by Stuart Wilding.