THE HANGOVER REPORT – Composer Ellen Reid’s interactive SOUNDWALK through Central Park proves to be accomplished, accessible

Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.

Central Park (Pictured: Bethesda Fountain), the subject of Ellen Reid’s “Soundscape”.

Last weekend, on my walk from my apartment in Hell’s Kitchen to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I decided to give composer Ellen Reid’s innovative and dynamic Central Park-inspired Soundwalk a try. Please note that I mean “dynamic” in the truest sense of the word. You see, thanks to the GPS technology available on our smart phones, the sonic iOS app is able to dynamically align with one’s location in Central Park. It calibrates specifically-scored movements (composed with certain areas of the park in mind) – as performed by the New York Philharmonic – to the route the listener decides to take. The result is an interactive aural collage that is idiosyncratic to one’s chosen path through the iconic park. Therefore, in theory, no two walkthroughs should yield soundtracks that are exactly the same.

Ms. Reid, a composer fast on the rise and a recent Pulitzer Prize winner for her opera prism (I caught the exciting piece during the 2019 Prototype Festival; you can read my review here), is no stranger to the New York Philharmonic, which played the world premiere of her prophetically-titled When the World as You’ve Known It Doesn’t Exist earlier this year before the pandemic effectively shut down all live performances. Soundwalk seems to be a logical extension of that earlier work; both explore the notions of and the relationship between “soundscape” and “music”, thereby blurring the distinction between them. Musically, Ms. Reid’s necessarily organic orchestral suite – which is augmented by human voice and a smattering of spoken word – is surprisingly accomplished, thanks in no small part to the seamlessness with which the “movements” meld into one another. Although the composer challenges the compositional norms of orchestral writing, the atmospheric work nonetheless manages to be accessible to the lay listener. It also holds together thematically, thanks to the richness and variety of Ms. Reid’s musical motifs. The final product proves to be an elemental, almost out-of-body experience, compelling the listener to ponder big topics such as history and nature on a visceral level.

Soundwalk continues in the recent trend established by other sonic walkthroughs of New York City’s parks (you can read my thoughts on similar experiences, like Gelsey Bell’s Cairns and Geoff Sobell’s Hear Their There Here, here). In my opinion, these activities — which I suspect have been created largely in response to pandemic life — are a godsend for those of us who are feeling adventurous but not quite yet ready to engage in more social outings. These are immersive experiences that invite repeated indulgence and much-needed active engagement in the world outside one’s home. They also provide a welcome alternative for arts lovers who are starting to tire of streaming digital content on their computers. Indeed, I was so enamored with Soundscape‘s concept and execution that I even kept the app activated as I roamed the labyrinthine galleries of the Met.

Soundwalk is available for free download via Apple’s App Store.

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SOUNDWALK
Classical Music
ReidWalk iOS App / New York Philharmonic

Categories: Music, Other Music

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