Delia Derbyshire was a prolific producer of music and sound, both within and outside her role in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and premiering above is a never-heard-before piece of music created from elements of her lost tape archive.
‘Future Ghosts’ is being premiered as part of a new documentary charting 60 years of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, of which Derbyshire was a part. Derbyshire’s lost tape archive consists of 300 or so reels of tape which were discovered in her attic when she died in 2001.
The dark, atmospheric piece has been composed from original elements of music by Derbyshire that the Radiophonic Workshop have worked together into a new piece. The elements are from tapes that Derbyshire made beyond the BBC on some of her later film and theatre projects – the exact details of which are lost to time.
As part of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s 60th anniversary, an album entitled Burials In Several Earths has been released via Room 13 Records, with contributions from Martyn Ware, while Ware will take part in events involving the Radiophonic Workshop at the British Library next month. On October 13, Late At The Library will see a celebration of the Radiophonic Workshop, who will perform live with guests. For tickets and more information, click here.
