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The story behind Sarabande For Zamboni


29 Dec 2017

Somerset House Studios artists Anna Meredith and Music Hackspace have created a new sonic artwork for  Skate at Somerset House. Find out about the inspiration behind Sarabande For Zamboni in the film below.

As part of an expanded programme of artist commissions across Somerset House, Anna Meredith has produced an original soundtrack inspired by our ice resurfacing machine (the Engo 170 SX), a ubiquitous yet fundamental feature of ice rinks across the world. Using the machine’s natural hum as a starting point, Meredith has composed a sequence of harmonising drones alongside instrumentation inspired by early video game soundtracks and their similarly elementary characters/inhabitants. Named after the traditional stately dance and the ice resurfacing machine’s inventor, Sarabande for Zamboni is a hypnotic composition that will play during each evening’s resurfacing.

Sarabande for Zamboni - Skate at Somerset House