A rare graphic record capturing the exact moment the first world war guns finally fell silent is to be brought to life by the Mercury prize-nominated duo Field Music for two performances as part of the armistice centenary commemorations.
David and Peter Brewis have taken as their inspiration the Imperial War Museum (IWM) document The End of the War, a recording on photographic paper of the minute before and minute after the cessation of hostilities.
The brothers, whose critically acclaimed albums include 2016’s Commontime and 2012’s Plumb, will perform two sets, one at IWM London and the another at IWM North in Manchester, based on their interpretation of the artefact, and exploring the echoes of the war through the century.
The End of the War is an example of sound ranging, a method determining the coordinates of hostile artillery. Six microphones were placed in a curve behind the frontline and a soldier near the frontline was given a button connected to a string galvanometer, inside which each microphone was connected to a thin wire that moved when that microphone picked up a sound. As each wire cast a shadow on to a moving piece of photographic film, a record was made of the sound picked up by each microphone.
The century old-technology means there is a photographic record of the guns at 11am on 11 November 1918. Modern technology has since allowed the artillery fire of the minute before to be recreated in a sound artefact at IWM London, where listeners can hear the gun’s vibrations through a special wooden elbow board.
Field Music, who have a reputation for innovative and varied live performances, were commissioned by the museum to create a commemorative sound and light show.
David Brewis said the sets had been inspired by the graphic record and sound artefact, which he described as “this tiny, incomplete fragment, not much more than a moment, but one which could be both the beginning and the ending of a huge story”.
“What we have done is really try to capture the echoes of the first world war in all the time since,” he said.
“We have taken a lot of things, both visually and sonically, from the piece,” he added, explaining the two shows would involve animation as well as songs – some funny.
“We have looked at little stories, events, moments, or technological advances, which happened in the war, or immediately after, and drawn a line from there across the next 100 years.”
As part of the project, the brothers researched the New Zealand-born surgeon Harold Gillies, who during the war pioneered facial cosmetic surgery and who went on to carry out one of the first gender realignment operations.
The duo were also inspired by a small Wisconsin company that developed a new material for dressing wounds and then adapted it for the first modern sanitary product. The company was Kimberly-Clark, and its product called Kotex.
“The spaces we will be performing in are so incredible and so intense,” said Brewis, “so we have to be respectful to the gravitas of the stories those museums are telling.”
• The IWM North performance is on 24 January from 9-11pm, and at IWM London on 31 January from 9-11pm. Tickets can be booked via iwm.org.uk
