(Ch)o/aural Unction: Anthem for Coronation

Produced as a companion piece to Unction to mark the opening of the SVEART exhibition in Aosta, Italy, Anthem uses further extrapolations of personal logic and arbitrary order to extend a sensory awakening.

A system was devised and outlined by the 19th Century Chemist, G.W. Septimus Piesse, of categorising and defining popular Perfumer’s scents that they might be arranged on a musical Grand Staff and used harmoniously in chords.

Although largely discredited, the method is here reversed and applied to the 8 ingredients of the royal anointing oil created for Unction, and a jarring musical chord generated and notated.

The chord is performed, recorded and played back, using a combination of live recordings and studio pitchshifting to attain the desired notes. Seven seconds every 45 minutes; the maximum length of one sung breath buffered by the oil diffuser’s automatic chamber switchover.

With thanks to:
Ed Chester - Transposition
Gareth Withers - Choirmaster
Holly Jones and David Butler - Choristers
Norman and Katherine Owen of St Barbara’s church choir
Recorded by Chris Dixon at UT Design
Graphics by Luke Drozd and Martin Earle at MC Modelmaking.

Combination Natural/Synthesised 12-track choral recording, 7 seconds.