A series of treated Victorian Carillon bells, rolling over each other arrhythmically in 3 octaves.

The Sunken Carillon

Composite piece from 3 Plinth Shows, June 2014 

- Colchester Arts Centre 
- Cafe Oto 28/06
- Leigh Folk Festival 29/06

Played by:

- Alison Nicholas Cotton (Viola)
- Amanda Feery (Piano)
- Niamh De Barra (Piano)
- Michael Tanner (Accordion, Sound manipulation)

Thank you Daniel Merrill and Lee McFadden for audience recordings

Photo by Frances Castle


Plinth - June 2014

Goldie's words for Bill and Phyl - Early '80s. 

Bought at a Dorset Car Boot Sale, 2009 for 50p.

Goldie's Lament

Michael Tanner - Table Harp, Zithers, Bowed Strohviol 
Emma Morton - Voice
Alison Cotton - Viola
Gemma Williams - Clarinet

Arrangements by Michael and Alison. 
Recorded at Greenwitch in Lewes, East Sussex, 2014

A cover of the traditional song made popular by Shirley and Dolly Collins, featuring Emma Morton from Lutine and Alison Cotton from The Left Outsides/Trimdon Grange Explosion.

For the compilation accompanying the Film 'The Ballad Of Shirley Collins' - More info at:

http://shirleycollinsmovie.com/


Plinth - One Night As I Lay On My Bed

Michael Tanner - Piano, Harmonium, Psaltery, Cello
Alison Cotton - Viola

Recorded Autumn 2014

Hildegard Von Bingen - O Quam Mirabilis

'God Is Seen (Honor To The Hills)' - a shape note hymn performed by Alan Lomax during a lecture in Texas, 1969, bounced between 2 tape machines and fx units. This recording was used to open the Plinth set at the Alan Lomax centenary event hosted by Stone Tape Recordings in the Asylum at Peckham, London 31/01/2015.

Lomax Loop

Michael Tanner - Psaltery, Table Dulcimer.
Alison Cotton - Viola.

2 excerpts from Side A of 'Suite for Psaltery and Dulcimer', due out as a limited LP/Download on Kit Records (www.kitrecords.com)

2 excerpts from Psaltery Music

from upcoming 'Collected Mechanical Music'

Eight Tooth Movement

A generative piece made of evolving tape loops by Michael Tanner for use in the Dada Garden event at Wimborne, 24/04/16

Emma Morton - Vocals
Alison Cotton - Viola

"Since Friday I felt that I was going to be like mother, and the best thing for me was to die.”

The Druitt family name can be seen scattered around the town of Wimborne, going back over 200 years. Montague - the third child of William and Ann - was born in 1857 here in the town. As a young man he was a prodigy of sorts - a county-grade cricketer and career as a promising barrister lay ahead of him, though a sea-change in his life was afoot by the time he’d moved to the Inner Temple, London.

Supplementing his education by taking up a post of teacher in the Blackheath Boys School, there were allegations of Druitt falling in with a bad crowd and owing gambling debts - yet on the field of sport, his popularity grew. Rumours also began to grow of his possible homosexuality, a fact never verified. On the 30th November 1888, Montague Druitt was dismissed from the Blackheath Boys school for reasons unclear. His local cricket club removed him as treasurer and secretary, claiming Druitt had ‘Gone abroad’.

Various theories have been put forward for the nature of Montague’s fall from grace. At some point, around the 4th of December, Montague placed heavy stones into his pockets and stepped from the bank into the Thames, somewhere near Chiswick. His body was not recovered for almost a month. Detectives found around £6,500 in his suit, a large sum, possibly the rest of his yearly wages from the school. A note left in his rooms addressed to his brother expressed concerns that, like their Mother and Grandmother before them, Montague was showing the first signs of hereditary mental health issues that had dogged the Druitts for generations. Yet even this note is speculation, paraphrased by William and disposed of soon after.

Druitt became something of a local celebrity when named by Constable Melville Macnaghten as the figure behind the infamous Whitechapel Murders, Jack The Ripper. Macnaghten had not been involved in the case until a year after the murders, but would drop hints as to the identity of the ‘sexually insane’ killer who’d taken his own life in 1888. Contemporary evidence seems to indicate that, given his stated involvement in certain cricket matches in various locations, it could not have been possible to travel from Whitechapel to the countryside and committed the killings. However, in personal correspondence, Macnaghten insisted Druitt was the guilty party, and moreover, that his own family also believed in his guilt. After retiring, Machnaghten claimed to have destroyed all documentation which named Druitt, including supposed hard evidence which linked him to the case.

My own personal relationship with the Druitt would be furthered every June, in the shape of the annual Wimborne folk festival. My favourite spot for both myself and friends to sit and watch proceedings would be under the large tree in Minster graveyard, amongst several of the resting spots of the Druitt family. Montague’s sad story would be wheeled out as cheap publicity in local papers, seemingly on a 5 year cycle, once again linking him to murders it was almost physically impossible for him to commit; even in death, his brief life has been indelibly stamped with the mark of violence, mutilation and murder.

Having moved from Dorset, I find myself thinking of him often, and the circumstances that led to him taking his own life in the Thames. The lucidity required which, if his Brother’s words are true, Montague exerted in facing his own demons. 

So here is a piece for Montague John Druitt. It’s comprised of viola, plucked autoharp, a hydrophone recording from the depths of the Thames and the words of Hildegard von Bingen, sung in latin:

"I recognised my ways were wicked

so I fled you

But now, you deceiver, I will fight you face to face

Queen humility, come with your medicine, give me aid”


Four Stones For Montague Druitt

United Bible Studies - Scullery

Temporary preview from upcoming 'The Cloisters' LP. Featuring Aaron Martin on cello and Aine O'Dwyer on harp. Due in Summer 2012

The Cloisters - Freohyll Nocturne/Hymn

from forthcoming LP 'To Run The Easting Down', on Awkward Formats 2015 http://awkwardformats.tumblr.com/

Amanda Feery and Michael Tanner - Sídhe (Excerpt)

Plinth - St. Lucia's Day (Parts 1 to 3)

Forthcoming release 'Vespers' on Dark Companion. 2020

Vespers 2

Eschewing teeth, skin and expensive electrical equipment since 1977 - Plinth, The A.Lords, The Cloisters, Thalassing, Bible Student and other silly names.

Michael Tanner

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