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The sound of people partying in a field, of exploding stars and birdsong, of a clanking chunk of metal, mechanically manoeuvering it’s gaze across the heavens. They’re all part of the rich sonic landscape of a British icon, of Jodrell Bank Observatory which turns 80 in December and some of the sounds which could inspire composer Hannah Peel to create a piece of music that marks that big birthday.

An Ivor Novello winning artist and Radio 3 presenter Hannah Peel is fascinated by space. It’s inspired her work in the past, particularly her album Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopoeia which she performed at the Blue Dot festival at Jodrell Bank in 2017. This Archive on 4 sees her come back to the site in Cheshire to learn about its founder Professor Sir Bernard Lovell and his iconic invention the Lovell telescope, which gave the UK a front row seat for the space race as Russia and the US vied to get the moon. She hears about the secret history of Jodrell Bank, where shadowy figures from GCHQ would use the telescope to assess Russian military capabilities during the Cold War in a relationship that lasted until the 1990s. And she learns about Sir Bernard and his love of music, how as a church organist, it tied to him a belief in something beyond science.

The stories and sounds she gathers on her journey form the elements of a new composition called Pulsar recorded by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Salford .Hannah Peel brings her unique creative experimental vision that draws on her background as a classical and electronic artist to the celebration of this British scientific and cultural icon.

‘Pulsar’ by Hannah Peel & BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Gemma New
Mixed and Co-Orchestrated by Michael Keeney
Mastering by James Trevascus
Management by Steve Malins and Random Music Mgmt

Additional music:
Archid Orange Dwarf from the album Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia by Hannah Peel
CP1919 by Stephen Morris
Sonifications by Prof Tim O’Brien
Dr Who clip is from Logopolis part 4, Season 18.

Presenter: Hannah Peel
Producer: Catherine Murray
Programme Co-ordinator; Nancy Bennie
Studio Manager for ‘Pulsar’: John Cole
Studio Manager for documentary: Michael Smith
Exec Producer: Richard McIlroy
Editor : Gill Farrington

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