A soundscape composition / installation inspired by the south east corner of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland. The work takes its title from a listening game played by young visitors to the Portmore Nature Reserve who would be invited to take a 'magic stone', grasp it, and with their eyes closed see what they could hear. In the moment of stillness offered to them, sounds that would usually be ignored would seep into their consciousness. As a result the players would become aware of not only the detail of those sounds surrounding them but also the wonder of them, and before long imaginations would run riot....
Jarvis's ghostly score is composed from recordings taken from around the lough together with sections of an interview with Aghalee resident, Eddie Franklin. The layered sounds tell their own story of a countryside on the verge of change - an area being taken over by the 'progress' of our time. 'Magic Stones' invites the listener to pause and to reconsider this relationship.
Discussion(Eyewitness reports, descriptions, discussion):
