Sound World lockdown music project's first single released

Harriet Riley of the Bristol Ensemble recorded her part of The Grace of Silence in her bedroom with Paul Israel playing the piano in his own home

The first single produced by a lockdown project supporting freelance musicians during the coronavirus pandemic has been released.

Sound World launched the scheme last year after Covid-19 wiped-out paid working opportunities for many self-employed musicians.

The Bristol-based charity said it wanted to help performers by offering paid work rather than handouts.

The Grace of Silence is the first single to be released.

Composer Dame Evelyn Glennie's original piece, based on the feelings associated with lockdown, was recorded by Harriet Riley and Paul Israel of the Bristol Ensemble.

Dame Evelyn Glennie drew on her own experiences of lockdown to create The Grace of Silence

Sound World asked 12 world-renowned composers to contribute their work for free, with only performers paid.

Money raised through a Crowdfunding campaign ensured performers were paid for their work and they will also benefit from music sales and a planned live premiere.

Director of Sound World Julian Leeks said: "It was clear in early March last year that things were going to be extremely tough for freelancers whose diaries were emptied overnight.

"So we got in touch with a number of composers to ask if they would write some short pieces for us and we set up a Crowdfunding campaign so that we could pay the musicians to record them, in their homes, during lockdown.

"The responses from the composers and the public were incredibly generous. We raised enough money to record a complete album."

Sound World director Julian Leeks started planning the project last March when freelancers' diaries "emptied overnight"

All of the songs written and recorded during lockdown will feature on an album called Reflections due for release in the late spring or early summer.

Due to the unique circumstances, all the musicians had to record their parts separately in their own homes with the work knitted together by sound engineer Andy Keenan.

"Andy has done an amazing job. You'd never know these weren't conventional studio recordings," said Mr Leeks.

"So as well as featuring some great sounds, the album tells a fascinating story of music during the lockdown and shows what can be achieved in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances."

A live premiere featuring all of the compositions had been planned at St George's concert hall in May but has been postponed until later in the year.