The Silence that Remains…
Andrew Heath
‘The Silence that Remains…’ is drawn from four pieces that I was originally commissioned to write last year by Wakewood films for a documentary called ‘The Echoing Space’ about Leith Hill Place.
A beautiful old house nestled in the Surrey Hills which has many famous connections, Leith Hill Place was given to the National Trust by the English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1945. The house had been his childhood home and was previously owned by the Wedgewood family and frequented by Charles Darwin. Interestingly, Vaughan Williams’ humble John Broadwood & Sons upright piano remains part of the collection at Leith Hill Place.
I was completely captivated in the film, by an overwhelming sense of stillness, of time drawn out, of a house awakening from a deep slumber. However, there are also darker perspectives that the film captured beautifully and I hope that the music has reflected and conveys that mood.
The four pieces that now form this EP, are all slightly reworked and in one piece I’ve taken the liberty of re-writing the piano part. It was a joy to re-visit this work and indeed to put titles to the four pieces, so cementing their connection in my mind, to this beautiful, historic house.
The original film ‘The Echoing Space’ can be seen here…
After Winter’s Sleep
Broadwood
The Painted Room
On the Nature of Larks
The Silence that Remains… is available as a digital EP here
