Work for the Railways

"Work for the Railways" is the title of a speech recorded by Lenin some time between 1919 and 1921. One part of the speech tells how the railway will carry oil to the factories and food to the people.

This piece uses parts of that recording - along with sounds from English trains of the 1950s. I like to think of it as a kind of hi-tech magic lantern through which the listener can 'see' my personal view into a world that doesn't exist any more.

Grateful thanks to Jonty Harrison and Kevin Busby of the University of Birmingham for studio time and support.

• University of Birmingham, England, Open Day, 13 September 1996
• The Planetarium, Winnipeg, Canada, 21 November 1996
• The Sonic Arts Network's first conference, University of Birmingham, England, 10 January 1998
• Lemon Tree Theatre, Aberdeen, Scotland, discoveries concert, 26 February 1998
• Broadcast in the programme Where's the Beat? on CKUT Montreal, Canada, 6 March 2002
• John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, England, as part of a performance of "Musicircus" in the Cage 2002: 90/10 John Cage study day, 21 September 2002
• Georgia State University School of Art & Design Galleries, Atlanta, USA, opening night of the 5-week Pulse Field festival, 18 January 2003
• CBSO Centre, Birmingham, England, as part of 20/20 Re:Vision, celebrating the 20th anniversary of BEAST, 8 March 2003
• California State University, Fullerton, USA, Women's Listening Room at Transforming Voices, 27 March 2003
• Corporation Nightclub, Sheffield, England, Sounds recorded for an empty nightclub, as part of Art Sheffield 03, 28 March 2003, and on the limited edition double CD
• Podcast as part of the ArtCast series during folly's Velocity autumn festival of digital culture, October-November 2007
• Broadcast in the programme Acoustic Frontiers on CKCU-FM Ottawa, Canada, 27 August 2012