Arctic Sound Walk [Slow Radio]

With a rich, varied and immersive listening experience, in the latest of his Slow Radio Sound Walks, as the winter draws and the snows threaten, Horatio Clare follows Greenland’s Arctic Circle Trail from the west coast of the country towards the vast ice-sheet. In a series of alien worlds, the scapes are changing all the time. The light, shapes and colours, the skies, waters and prospects are limitless.

Recorded in October when the tundra still has life, but the season changes, staying overnight in fishermen’s shacks overlooking fjords, Horatio Clare brings to life the harsh and scenic beauty of one of the classic walks of the world.

Remote, historic, silent, yet full of wildlife, on the first day of the three-day trek he’s joined by three stray huskies. The birdlife is out in force with snow buntings, displaying ravens and skeins of migrating geese. He crosses frozen mountain streams, high hanging valleys, tundra, bogs and natural amphitheatres. The hues are otherworldly with moon dust coloured lichen, burnt umbers, bronzed brass and dulled vermilions of endless reefs of moss. The atmospheres are all suspended under the fine pale blue and pearly white skies.

Specialist location sound recordings capture the zephyrs of wind, wing beats of birds in the sky above, the trickling water of streams and the effort of a challenging hike across the stunningly beautiful and remote Arctic tundra.

This first programme of three explores how Greenland came to be, from the early lives of the Inuit to the explorers and settlers in the early twentieth century.

Music accompanying the trek includes works by Peter Gregson, John Luther Adams, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Vikingur Olaffson, John Harle, Morton Feldman, Arvo Part, and the ice music of Terje Isungset.

Horatio Clare's immersive Slow Radio Sound Walk along Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail.

Tune in, drop out. It's time to go slow.

Recorded in October when the tundra still has life, but the season changes, staying overnight in fishermen's shacks overlooking fjords, Horatio Clare brings to life the harsh and scenic beauty of one of the classic walks of the world.

Remote, historic, silent, yet full of wildlife, on the first day of the three-day trek he's joined by three stray huskies. The birdlife is out in force with snow buntings, displaying ravens and skeins of migrating geese. He crosses frozen mountain streams, high hanging valleys, tundra, bogs and natural amphitheatres. The hues are otherworldly with moon dust coloured lichen, burnt umbers, bronzed brass and dulled vermilions of endless reefs of moss. The atmospheres are all suspended under the fine pale blue and pearly white skies.

Specialist location sound recordings capture the zephyrs of wind, wing beats of birds in the sky above, the trickling water of streams and the effort of a challenging hike across the stunningly beautiful and remote Arctic tundra.

This first programme of three explores how Greenland came to be, from the early lives of the Inuit to the explorers and settlers in the early twentieth century.

Music accompanying the trek includes works by Peter Gregson, John Luther Adams, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Vikingur Olaffson, John Harle, Morton Feldman, Arvo Part, and the ice music of Terje Isungset.

Horatio Clare's immersive Slow Radio Sound Walk along Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail.

Horatio Clare's immersive Slow Radio Sound Walk on Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail. Bringing to life the stark beauty of the Arctic tundra and exploring how Greenland came to be.

Fording frozen streams, skirting lakes and fjords, and crossing a landscape scarred by fires that swept the area during the summer of 2019, Horatio Clare spends a second day trekking Greenland’s Arctic Circle Trail in this immersive Slow Radio sound walk. Awaiting the arctic sunrise whilst breakfasting, he sets out from his overnight hut and hikes across the frozen bogs of the west coast under a silvery arctic light, accompanied by three runaway huskies.

Silent valleys, mackerel skies, screaming winds, the northern lights and sublime mountain scapes are brought to life by Horatio's commentary and specialist location sounds recordings as they capture the beating of raven’s wings, the cracking of ice, the sound of seabirds over remote coasts and the lapping of lake water on a Greenlandic beach of gold and white sand.

Focusing on the Greenlandic story up to the recent past and considering the establishment of Inuit and Norse communities across the generations, we hear about the rich culture early 20th century explorers discovered when they arrived at the world’s largest island. There’s the juxtaposition of Christian and Shamanic traditions as well as the expression of Inuit identity through music and dance with specially recorded Drum Dance performances.

As well as live performances by Fali Kleist, Nuka Alice Lund and Jose Joelsen, music in the programme includes works by John Luther Adams, Olafur Arnalds, Edmund Finnis and Jean Sibelius. There are also Max Richter’s arrangements of Vivaldi, music by the group Nordic Affect, and the ice music of Terje Isungset.

Day two of Horatio Clare's immersive Sound Walk along Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail.

Tune in, drop out. It's time to go slow.

Silent valleys, mackerel skies, screaming winds, the northern lights and sublime mountain scapes are brought to life by Horatio's commentary and specialist location sounds recordings as they capture the beating of raven's wings, the cracking of ice, the sound of seabirds over remote coasts and the lapping of lake water on a Greenlandic beach of gold and white sand.

Focusing on the Greenlandic story up to the recent past and considering the establishment of Inuit and Norse communities across the generations, we hear about the rich culture early 20th century explorers discovered when they arrived at the world's largest island. There's the juxtaposition of Christian and Shamanic traditions as well as the expression of Inuit identity through music and dance with specially recorded Drum Dance performances.

As well as live performances by Fali Kleist, Nuka Alice Lund and Jose Joelsen, music in the programme includes works by John Luther Adams, Olafur Arnalds, Edmund Finnis and Jean Sibelius. There are also Max Richter's arrangements of Vivaldi, music by the group Nordic Affect, and the ice music of Terje Isungset.

Day two of Horatio Clare's immersive Sound Walk along Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail.

Day two of Horatio Clare's immersive Sound Walk on Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail. Bringing to life sublime landscapes whilst exploring the development of Greenland's identity.

There's a spring in Horatio Clare's step as he starts out on the third and final day of his trek along Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail in this immersive Slow Radio sound walk.

Crossing a landscape of extremes as he heads to the small town of Sarfannguit, he considers the changes Greenland is experiencing because of both climate change and international interest in its mineral wealth.

With specialist sound recordings bringing to life the torrents of streams, the howling wind and the gentle lapping of waves on a picturesque Greenlandic tarn, one of the challenges is how to feed the three huskies who have adopted Horatio along the trail.

The programme includes music by John Luther Adams, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninov and Pablo Casals. There is also the minimalist folk music of British group, Spiro, works by Steve Reich, Michael Gordon, Víkingur Ólafsson, Jonas Bonnetta, Meredith Monk, the Norwegian artist Biosphere and Estonian folk singer Mari Kalkun.

Day three of Horatio Clare's immersive Sound Walk along Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail.

Tune in, drop out. It's time to go slow.

Crossing a landscape of extremes as he heads to the small town of Sarfannguit, he considers the changes Greenland is experiencing because of both climate change and international interest in its mineral wealth.

With specialist sound recordings bringing to life the torrents of streams, the howling wind and the gentle lapping of waves on a picturesque Greenlandic tarn, one of the challenges is how to feed the three huskies who have adopted Horatio along the trail.

The programme includes music by John Luther Adams, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninov and Pablo Casals. There is also the minimalist folk music of British group, Spiro, works by Steve Reich, Michael Gordon, V퀀kingur Ӏlafsson, Jonas Bonnetta, Meredith Monk, the Norwegian artist Biosphere and Estonian folk singer Mari Kalkun.

Day three of Horatio Clare's immersive Sound Walk along Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail.

The programme includes music by John Luther Adams, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninov and Pablo Casals. There is also the minimalist folk music of British group, Spiro, works by Steve Reich, Michael Gordon, Víkingur Ólafsson, Jonas Bonnetta, Meredith Monk, the Norwegian artist Biosphere and Estonian folk singer Mari Kalkun.

Day three of Horatio Clare's immersive Sound Walk on Greenland's Arctic Circle Trail. Bringing to life sublime landscapes whilst considering the impact of climate change.