Shorelines UK Tour 2018, a Cryptic/Ragazze Quartet co-commission, composed by Oliver Coates: Beyond Borders
Inspired by the North Sea Flood of 1953— leaving the Netherlands devastated and also taking many lives in the UK and Belgium— Shorelines is a music-theatre work, composed by Oliver Coates (UK), performed by the Ragazze Quartet (NL) and directed by Josh Armstrong (UK). Acting as both a memorial to those who lost their lives and a meditation on water, Shorelines centres on the taped testimony of a woman who lost everything to the sea.
Following the moments after the flood, the performers drift through a dramatic musical landscape of flowing and shifting textures, combined with design and staging. As the members of the quartet perform against haunting recordings of themselves and collages of slowed strings and choral voices, we hear the sounds that were never heard, the calls that were unanswered and see shadows floating through the darkness.
Shorelines is a poignant reflection on the increasingly delicate relationship we have with the natural world.
After the world premiere at the prestigious Operadagen in Rotterdam, May 2016, Shorelines will have its UK premiere at Cryptic’s Sonica (26 Oct – 5 Nov 2017), followed by a European and UK tour in 2017/18. The UK tour is supported by PRSF Beyond Borders.