Review: The Height of the Reeds, Hull UK City of Culture

I never thought I'd say the words, but the truth is I needed more Barrie Rutter. While we are still only a few months into Hull's year as UK City of Culture, The Height of the Reeds looks set to be one of the highlights. Had it had just a touch more Rutter it might have been its crowning glory.
By The Newsroom
Published 12th Apr 2017, 16:56 BST
Updated 9th May 2017, 18:49 BST
The Height of the Reeds musician Arve Henriksen at the Humber Bridge . Picture by Tom Arber.The Height of the Reeds musician Arve Henriksen at the Humber Bridge . Picture by Tom Arber.
The Height of the Reeds musician Arve Henriksen at the Humber Bridge . Picture by Tom Arber.

The sound installation currently being played out on the Humber Bridge is the brainchild of Opera North, a trio of Norwegian musicians and composers and Hull sound artist Jez Riley French and it’s eerie, moving and brilliantly atmospheric.

Those lucky enough to have bagged tickets - they went within 48 hours of going on the website - don headphones to walk across the bridge. On the way out they hear the new soundscape composed by Jan Bang and played by the Orchestra of Opera North. A bit like the water below, it’s huge in scope.

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At certain trigger points come Hull-born actors Maureen Lipman and Barrie Rutter reading lines of verse by Norwegian poet Nils Christian Moe-Repstad. It’s here that The Height of the Reeds really comes into its own.

Arve Henriksen and Jan Bang at the Humber Bridge. Picture by Tom Arber.Arve Henriksen and Jan Bang at the Humber Bridge. Picture by Tom Arber.
Arve Henriksen and Jan Bang at the Humber Bridge. Picture by Tom Arber.

Rutter is the founder of Northern Broadsides. His Hull tones serve Norwegian poetry as well as they do King Lear and provide a searing narrative for Bang’s music, but they just don’t last long enough.

On the way back it’s the turn of Riley French who has recorded the sounds of the bridge itself. Those creaks and clanks are interesting and disconcerting in equal measure, but as a celebration of Hull and its most famous feat of engineering the return journey is less engaging.

Regardless though, The Height of the Reeds is ambitious, daring and innovative. Exactly what UK City of Culture should be.

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