Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers)

Jan 03, 2022, 12:56 PM

"Composition inspired by the work and words of American musician and soundscape ecologist Bernard L. Krause. Dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis calls for a love 'that transcends the barriers of geography and distance'. 

November 1981, as a 16 year old, I bought a Grundig Satellit 1400 professional World receiver. Long-distance radio transmissions very much became the soundtrack - 'the personal soundscape', if you like - to my middle and late adolescence. 

Recently I picked up a copy of the November edition of Radio User magazine. Here I read about this callout to remix and reimagine the world of shortwave radio.

"FRATELLI TUTTI” (All Brothers). With these words, Saint Francis of Assisi addressed his brothers and sisters and proposed to them a way of life marked by the flavour of the Gospel. It is also the title of the third encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on fraternity and social friendship".

Many of the stories that surround the life of Saint Francis of Assisi say that he had a great love for animals and the environment. Pope John Paul II declared Francis the patron saint of ecology. 

Alas, "A great silence is spreading over the natural world even as the sound of man is becoming deafening," Bernard Krause wrote in his 2012 book, "The Great Animal Orchestra". "Little by little the vast orchestra of life, the chorus of the natural world, is in the process of being quietened." All of the above got me inspired.

Digital tools used : VSTHost by Hermann Seib as the Audio Plugin Host for free VST plugins by Tonecarver, Ugo, HG Fortune and Airwindows. 
Frog calls recorded by my wife on her smartphone at our favourite pond.
Of the original mp3 file I only kept the intro music... as the intro."

Composition by Blijlever.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave