Music for Adelie Penguin 1993:207

The three titles on 'A Distant Memory of Home' were composed specifically for an event that took place in June 2000. Adelie Penguin 1993:207 is now a permanent exhibit in Cheltenham Museum as an interesting piece of Antarctic history. It was brought to England as a stuffed specimen by Edward Wilson, returning from his first Antarctic Expedition in 1904 but for many years, he stood on a window ledge in Shurdington Village School. He was donated by the Wilson family, as a memento of the local hero, when he failed to return from the fatal attempt on the South Pole with Captain Scott in 1912. Between June 2nd and June 4th 2000 the Penguin revisited the Village for a weekend of celebrations and over the three days I performed the tracks on 'A Distant Memory of Home' under the watchful eye of the penguin himself, in the 14th century village church. Intending to portray a longing for the far-off icy wilderness of Antarctica the title piece was recorded live on Saturday 3rd June. The two remaining tracks were written to represent the penguin in his element (On the Ice Floe) andin his display case (In the Museum Case) and were recorded live in Jaguar Sound Studios, using only sources and themes from the title track. The three pieces move through the freezing winds and seas of the South Polar regions and as the memories fade into the dusty solitude of a glass case, the sounds of the white continent still echoing in the distance.

Kev Fox