Release date: 27 October 2023
In November 2021 NMC launched The Big Lockdown Music Survey, an Arts Council England National Lottery Funded project which invited music creators from across England to submit recordings of music they had made during the first national Covid-19 lockdown that was introduced in England on 23 March 2020.
More than 200 music creators of all ages and levels of experience responded to this open-call by submitting recordings of every genre of music, alongside data and personal testimony about their creative experiences of lockdown, forming a rich snapshot of this once-in-a generation experience shared by the nation.
NMC then worked with six regional Gateway Partner organisations comprised of cultural and music centres from across England to select the submissions that they felt should go on to represent their region. With the help of the data partner for the project, the Centre for Practice & Research in Science & Music (PRISM) based at the Royal Northern College of Music, the 71 selected tracks were plotted on to an interactive listening map on NMC’s website. The map can be explored through filters including mood, genre, weather, and location, creating an interactive portrait of how lockdown affected music creators across the country. Explore the map here: www.nmcrec.co.uk/biglockdown-music-survey-map
Three years on from that first national lockdown, NMC has curated this 12-track album, which represents the hugely diverse range of music that was submitted to The Big Lockdown Music Survey. From Rachel Beckles Willson's recordings of saxophone and kitchen sounds, to Edward Lambert's surreal chamber opera; from Fenella Humphreys' recording of Mark D Boden's solo violin work Isolation, to Bobby Barry's claustrophobic comment on the empty platitudes of lockdown emails, In These Exceptional Times is an account of exceptional personal circumstances, of creativity, technical innovation, and resilience.
"A reminder that no matter what happens, great musicians will always find a way to make themselves heard." Tom McKinney, BBC Radio 3
TRACKLISTING
1) Rachel Beckles Willson Teatime! (Did you think I was here to make the tea?)
2) Melinda Maxwell Pan Harmonium: an improvisation, oboe and ancient Greek aulos
3) Alice Olivia Bailey Up, Down, All Around
4) Mark D. Boden Isolation
5) Edward Lambert I’m So Lonely (from Last Party On Earth)
6) Bobby Barry I Hope This Finds You Well
7) Tara Guram Hesychia
8) David John Roche The Harp of Wales
9) Aurora Nishevci Clapped
10) Millicent B James Be Your Own Guardian Angel
11) Catherine Mole Flowers
12) Pia Rose Scattergood Calm Down Love (postcards from home, pt. 2)
AUDIO
FUNDERS
RECORDING CREDITS
Rachel Beckles Willson piano, saxophone, kitchen sounds
Melinda Maxwell oboe, Ancient Greek aulos
Alice Olivia Bailey voice, violin, piano, electronics
Fenella Humphreys violin
Henry Clements voice
Edward Lambert synthesizer
Bobby Barry voice, electronics, synthesizer, field recordings
Tara Guram violin and electronics
David John Roche guitar
Brian Smith voice
Angela Novy piano
Aidan Marsden drums
Giulia Lussoso violin
Millicent B. James synthesizers, synthesized bass, Western African percussion, voices, cello, woodwind section, brass section, celesta, harp, piano, marimba, drum kit, tambourine, string section
Joe Spinoza piano
Pia Rose Scattergood voice, guitar, loop pedals
Catalogue number: NMCDL3055
Release date: 27 October 2023