Music for Ice Cream Vans
Nigel writes: "A park in Norwich, a composer, seven borrowed ice cream vans (and a reporter).
Because, remarkably, these vans and their chimes form the orchestra for Mr Jones's new piece, Suburban Counterpoint (Music For Seven Ice Cream Vans).
All seven will tour the suburbs of Norwich this evening and tomorrow, playing the piece in relay. The idea is that you'll hear it wafting across the streets, meandering into your consciousness.
Dan Jones holds a map of where the vans are going while his sound engineer tells ice cream man Halil Topalcik (that's his back on the right) just what he's doing to his van.
It's part of the closing weekend of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, on PM this evening, with a special mix, exclusive for us of the piece.
Favourite ice cream van tune anyone?"
(Our pictures by the way are by Ryan Watts)
UPDATE
Here's Nigel's report as heard on PM this evening:
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And the music itself:
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Comments
What fun! My student job was Ice Cream man. '99' anyone?. My tune was a clockwork "Happy Wanderer"
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LOL...only in Norwich!
Oh and that 'Dan Jones' isn't my #1 son!
P Nutt of near to Norwi.....
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Will it be Upshares, I wonder?
I liked The Happy Wanderer when the ice cream van came by. Sadly, I'm not a fan of ice cream.
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In my family we joke that the music's there because they've run out of the ice cream.
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Lovely music, reminds me of Steve Reich/Philip Glass et al. You don't find that kind of creativity in Germany.
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This is going to be a confusing evening for the children of Norwich.
"Where's the ice cream van?"
"This way"
"No this way"
No, it's this way"
I hope the ice creams are free!
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Loved the musical interlude!
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I had a 99 yesterday at the park.
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If that was where I think it was in Norwich - I can remember walking across there in the early nineties when the air was dreamily filled with the scent of chocolate! RIP Rowntrees. :(
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Deja vu - these vans have before as an orchestra before. Fleet: Ice Cream Orchestra was an original art work by Chris Yates & Kelvin Pawsey commissioned for the Whitstable Biennale in 2008 and for the Whitechapel Gallery in 2009. It had fantastic press coverage and was hailed as a great idea. Clearly Dan Jones thought so too!
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4 - Used that on the kids for years. Worked a treat too.
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Deja Vu indeed: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2009/may/04/whitechapel-ice-cream
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This has definitely been done very successfully before, I was at Whitechapel in 2009 and it went down a storm, congratulations to Chris and Kelvin who's original idea it was.
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Tunes I've heard:
O Sole Mio (mainly amongst ones belonging to a certain Unilever brand)
Popeye (irritatingly played at a dirge-like pace)
Happy Wanderer
Teddy Bears' Picnic (first two lines)
Girls and Boys Come Out to Play (slight hitch - they play it during the daytime!)
A certain maypole dance from "My Native Heath" would be a fun one for them to attempt. Or you could go for irony:
* Rock a bye baby
* Brahms' Lullaby
* Miserilou
* Little Green Bag (intro)
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