Commissions

Conversing with Resonance
Laura Cannell

Wapping Hydraulic Power Station by Thomas Zanon-Larcher, 2010
Wapping Hydraulic Power Station by Thomas Zanon-Larcher, 2010

Conversing with Resonance by composer, violinist and double recorders player Laura Cannell is a text written for the publication Resonance 1, reflecting on her commission: a music album – The Earth with Her Crowns – recorded in the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station in March 2019. Working on the album, Laura conversed with the long reverb, the damp air, the chill and the stories contained within the building.

If I do this, will you fight back?
will you agree?
will you laugh at me?
will you change my pitch?


Laura Cannell is a composer and performer who draws on the emotional influences of the landscape both rural and urban, real and imagined. With deconstructed violin bow and double recorders, she performs semi-composed, semi-improvised pieces which explore the spaces between ancient and experimental.

Laura has released five critically acclaimed albums since 2014, and is regularly broadcast throughout the world including: BBC Radio 3, 4, 6Music, The World Service, Polish National Radio and NPR. Her albums have featured in many end of year lists including: The Guardian, MOJO, BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction, The Wire and The Quietus.

Recent projects include creating music for film, broadcast work for BBC Radio 3, “Reckonings” (2018) a collaborative album with Andre Bosman, tours with the cellist Lori Goldston (Earth, Nirvana) & collaborations with This Heat drummer Charles Hayward & Mira Calix, as well as commissions for Hampton Court Palace, The Immix Ensemble, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra & The Zuckerman Museum of Contemporary Art (US).