Music Stones: The Rediscovery of Ringing Rock

Contents

Foreword by Dame Evelyn Glennie

Chapter One: Peter Crosthwaite

Chapter Two: The New Contenders – Limestone, lithophones and a rock harmonicon

Chapter Three: A stonemason, a boatman and a fiddler – Two cousins, William Irwin and the sound of slate William Bowe

Chapter Four: Richardson’s Original Rock Band – London and beyond

Chapter Five: Playing by Royal Command – Richardson’s Rock, Bell and Steel Band at Buckingham Palace

Chapter Six: The Till Family Rock Band - Following in the footsteps

Chapter Seven: The Tills in the USA – The rise of the rockophone

Chapter Eight: Honoré Baudre – Antediluvian music and a geological piano

Chapter Nine: The Abrahams – Limelight in the Lakes

Chapter Ten: A Yorkshire Dalesman and a Menorcan Don – Neddy Dick and Don Antonio Roca y Várez

Chapter Eleven: Circuses, music halls and musical pavements – Arthur Nelson, the Pavanellas and the Bozza Troupe

Chapter Twelve: The Twentieth Century – A chronological miscellany of musical stone

Chapter Thirteen: Vietnam – The rediscovery of lithophones in South East Asia

Chapter Fourteen: Experimental Music Stones – Investigations in geological indeterminacy

Chapter Fifteen: The gift of sound and vision – Sculptural music and musical sculpture

Chapter Sixteen: The new stone age – Statements from contemporary practitioners

Bibliography

Index 

About the Author

Mike Adcock, having obtained a degree in art history, spent ten years as an art college lecturer before deciding to pursue a career in music: playing, composing, teaching and writing on the subject. He has released many recordings, both solo and in collaboration with other musicians, particularly in the field of free improvisation. Mike has had articles and papers published on different aspects of music and music education, including ‘The Ancient Stone Instruments of Vietnam’ (Time & Mind 2017) and currently writes reviews for the online magazine Roots World. He sometimes makes his own instruments, using broken roof slates.