The album, released by Modern Recordings BMG worldwide, will be one continuous piece of music, made with a complete horse skeleton, 30+ musicians, bone flutes, horseskin drums, original mechanical instruments, pelvic lyres, electronics, cement mixer.

With an exploration of music’s origins and rhythm in particular at its heart it will begin quietly and slowly and gradually accelerate throughout, getting bigger and faster until by the end it is in a kind of frenzy. The orchestration will include the bones from a horse skeleton, flutes made from its bones, the traditional instruments of the London Contemporary Orchestra, and sampled recordings of a horse’s life.

It will demonstrate, through the choice of sounds, the story of music from its distant origins in the form of bone flutes (similar to the oldest musical instrument), via more traditional musical instruments to cutting edge electronics and sampling. The opening horse bone flutes, made by Henry Dagg, will be played by Shabaka Hutchings. The final electronics will contain instruments and techniques developed by some of the UK’s most interesting musical inventors.

Tracklist:

The Horse’s Bones Are In A Cave
The Horse’s Hair And Skin Are Stretched
The Horse’s Bones Are Flutes
The Horse’s Pelvis Is A Lyre
The Horse Is Prepared
The Horse Is Quiet
The Horse Is Submerged
The Horse Is Put To Work
The Rider (Not The Horse)
The Truck That Follows The Horses
The Horse’s Winnings
The Horse Has A Voice
The Horse Remembers
The Horse Is Close
The Horse Is Here

UPC: 4050538907438
Label: Modern Recordings
Release Date: 5.26.23
Format: CD

Matthew Herbert and London Contemporary Orchestra - The Horse (CD)