Rive

‘Rive’ is an old English word with its roots in the Norse languages meaning to slice or cleve apart. As a verb it describes the way slate is split into thin layers by striking it along its natural grain. The installation composed of five slices of light piercing through the cavern echoes the industry of the cavern whilst expressing its vastness. Shafts of light, like those from high windows or in crepuscular rays or ‘hand of God’ rays through evening clouds have a certain presence about them that suggests something otherworldly. The quality of light somehow feels solid, as if you can reach out and touch them. Just as the sound of an orchestra fills the cavern in a very physical way. Yet you can reach your hand right through them and know that there is nothing there.

This concert is the fourth in a series of underground performances by The Cobweb Orchestra, an award winning, open access orchestra based in the North of England. The previous concerts have been in the Victoria Tunnel, Newcastle, the York Cold War Bunker, and the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum, Skinningrove.

Honister Slate Mine is England’s oldest working slate mine, located at the head of the Honister Pass - one of the country’s steepest mountain passes.

This 900 year old mine is deep in the heart of a former volcano, Fleetwith, and takes in an underground world of narrow passages and incredible cathedral-like caverns in this stunning corner of the Lake District.

The Northern Counties of England have a long and distinctive cultural heritage. This shared heritage stems from the vast and wild landscapes - rugged coastlines, remote towns and villages and lonely hills. The Cobweb Orchestra Underground programme seeks to explore that history and heritage, scratching the surface and getting underneath the surface (literally) to discover what makes us culturally Northern.

There is a wealth of musical heritage to tap into and for many this opens up a new world of often overlooked early composers. Within Cobwebs’ own vast membership are a number of active composers who continue to write new music inspired by their own experience of living and working in the North.

The Northern Counties also have a shared heritage underground. The mining of lead, copper, coal, ironstone, potash and slate have physically shaped the landscape around us and in turn created the communities that dot the area. The mining industries brought in skills and expertise from other parts of the country attracting tin miners from Cornwall and copper miners from Bavaria brought deep mining to Britain.

By bringing together this music and performing it in the bedrock of the land we hopefully get a little closer to understanding what makes the Northern Counties what they are and what makes them special.