Sound and Music

Vauxhall Cross, one of London's busiest interchanges, stands on the site of former historic Pleasure Gardens.Vauxhall Pleasure is a multi-part protest piece involving a chamber ensemble (harpsichord, violins, viola, cello, flute and soprano), recorded sound and visual projections. Eighteenth-century music and recordings from the junction create a conflicting sonic history of Vauxhall now and then. The Arcadian songs of Thomas Arne composed in the Gardens are refigured, polluted by the rumble and rhythm of heavy city traffic of the twenty first century. Created by artist Anna Best and composer Paul Whitty, Vauxhall Pleasure was originally performed at Tate Britain.