The Shape of Sound
Music inspired by the work of Henry Moore
This is a contemporary classical music project by Garry DW Judd who has lived and worked in Green Tye (next to Perry Green) for the past nine years.
The Shape Of Sound is inspired directly by the life and works of the sculptor Henry Moore who was based at Perry Green from 1940 to 1986.
“I’ve always lived near The Henry Moore Foundation, and since I moved to Green Tye, many of his works are part of the landscape within walking distance. I’m surprised that it took so long for me to sit down in front of one of his works and record it’s impression on me. Like his sculptures, this music is pretty experimental in form, but I’ve also been inspired to write through-composed music inspired by his words and methods.”
Music is for string quintet and oboe as this would suit smaller gallery spaces, but these could be scaled up to string orchestra and oboe for larger venues, much in the same way that Henry Moore would scale up his work.
Direct inspiration from the sculptures
How the project started.
I grew up in the Hertfordshire town of Ware which is about eight miles away from Perry Green where Henry Moore lived and worked. I left Ware to study music at the University of Leeds, where I would regularly walk past the Henry Moore Institute (Henry Moore was born in Castleford, Yorkshire). After Leeds, I returned to Ware and Hertford. For the past nine years, I have lived in Green Tye, the next hamlet to Perry Green and a short walk to some of Moore’s publicly displayed work at the Henry Moore Foundation.
So, his works have literally been part of the landscape for most of my life. So much so, that I never really considered the possibility of inspiration from his work as they were always there.
It took a bit of distance to make me realise these possibilities…I travel to Los Angeles once or twice per year for film and TV music meetings and I happened to be in a coffee shop in Santa Monica when I opened the Los Angeles Times and saw the picture below.
I was thrilled and moved by this sudden connection to home…It was towards the end of the trip and I was looking forward to returning to Hertfordshire.
So, on my return home, I started to look into Moore’s work and began a series of pieces based on his sculpture and life.
I've been particularly inspired by Moore's recurring theme of shelter, an example of which is publicly accessible in Perry Green
Reproduced by permission of The Henry Moore Foundation