University News Last updated 12 August 2020
The sounds of early medieval languages, including Early Irish and Old Norse, are to be given new life through a pioneering European research project.
'Augmented Vocality: Recomposing the Sounds of Early Irish and Old Norse', led by experts at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, part of Birmingham City University, will bring together music experts, historical linguistics and literary scholars to look at the sonic footprints of Vikings and Celts.
The team, in collaboration with the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge along with three European contemporary music ensembles, will apply powerful new vocal processing and live electronic music technology to develop new insights into the languages by reanimating surviving texts - before weaving sounds into new compositions for performance.
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) in England, Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble in Northern Ireland, and BIT20 Ensemble in Norway are also partner organisations for the project, which has just been awarded £485,274 in funding by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Professor Lamberto Coccioli, Associate Principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and project lead, said, “For many people, phrases such as 'the early medieval period' and 'the Viking age' conjure a mental landscape of swords, helmets, longboats and thatched huts. It is a shared visual imagination that encompasses primary school projects, the historically-inspired fantasy world of Tolkien and popular series such as Vikings and The Last Kingdom. But what do we really know about the sounds accompanying all this imagery?”
As part of 'Augmented Vocality: Recomposing the Sounds of Early Irish and Old Norse project', the team will produce a digital audio database and sample library; vocal processing and live electronics software; two musical compositions for one or more voices, ensemble and live electronics, public concerts, conference presentations and workshops in the UK, Ireland and Norway.