Earth & Sky: an immersive soundwalk

The Yorkshire Post features an initiative included in the Wild Uplands project.

Earth & Sky is an immersive soundwalk guiding people through the moorland of Penistone Hill Country Park in West Yorkshire and features new pieces from three leading contemporary composers – Caterina Barbieri, Nyokabi Kariũki and Gwen Siôn – with local field recordings compiled by sound artist Sarah Keirle-Dos Santos, and classical music from 19th century Bradford-born composer Frederick Delius recorded by the Orchestra of Opera North. There is also a spoken word element with poetic works from Bradford writer Nabeelah Hafeez. The walk begins in Haworth and uses GPS technology to trigger the musical pieces as people follow the recommended route.

The artists were invited by Opera North to respond to the dramatic landscape of the moors above Haworth, a landscape which was such an inspiration to the Brontë sisters. In preparation, the creative team went to visit the site. “We went to have a look around and to think about the kind of musical styles that would be interesting to work with in the landscape,” says producer Liv McCafferty who led the project for Opera North. “We knew we wanted to also include work by Delius so we had a think about who would provide an interesting international response to that. All the composers involved work in electronic music with classical influences which provides an interesting viewpoint.”

It is a nice link to the Brontës that all three are female composers. “That was coincidental,” says McCafferty. “We thought of those artists first and foremost for what they do, but they were all pleased about making that connection with the Brontës.” Following the commission, the artists were then taken to explore the moorland. “They came over in early September last year and we went to visit the site with them at various times,” says McCafferty. “We went at dawn and dusk and at other times so that they could get the feel of different moods and sounds.” Having spent time exploring, each composer selected a particular area that they would link their work to.

Italian composer Barbieri, who is artistic director for music at Venice Biennale, has composed a site-specific work located at the cascade of rocks on the outer perimeter of Penistone Hill. The piece, entitled It was the Limit of my Dream, features electronics, chromatic vocal harmonies, sung by members of the Chorus of Opera North, and extended brass drones played by the Orchestral of Opera North.

Multidisciplinary Welsh artist Siôn took inspiration from the natural and industrial elements she discovered within the landscape. “I chose this spot because I was really interested in the wall of rock and the different lives it’s had over time,” she says. “I was interested in it being the site of a disused quarry and how you get the sense of how human interventions have shaped the landscape.” Her composition combines electronics and acoustic instrumentation, environmental and vocal recordings including fragments from literary texts written about the moorland.

Kenyan composer Kariũki’s work is inspired by the flora and fauna of Penistone Hill and also references her East African heritage. She has experimented with the idea of a butterfly flitting over the landscape, using muttered voice and choral styles. The butterfly invites the listener to join her in exploring the terrain. “I wrote the piece in the hope that listeners are transported into their own little fantasy world,” says Kariũki. “Maybe one that takes place between the soft flutters of butterflies’ wings.”

Threaded throughout the soundwalk are recordings made by sound artist Keirle-Dos Santos on Penistone Hill. “Sarah’s recordings, including the dawn chorus and the wind, connect all the compositions and plays with the notion of digital versus the natural,” says McCafferty. “It is embedded in the landscape every step of the way.” Keirle-Dos Santos has also augmented two classical pieces by Delius, performed by the Orchestra of Opera North, with sounds ranging from birdsong, to rustling grass and the beating of butterfly wings.

During the walk Hafeez shares three original poems which explore themes of family, place, nature and identity. “Bradford is the roots to so many stories, including my own, my parents and grandparents who first came to settle here,” she says. “My inspiration comes from these stories... Each of my poems bares these remnants, taking from old stories, memories and words, to build on something new. A reflection of the countless journeys that cross our pathways that we may never know about.”

Earth & Sky is part of Wild Uplands, an open-air gallery featuring contemporary installations by national and international artists placed across Penistone Country Park, running until October 12. (Yvette Huddleston)

A contributor to The Assam Tribune thinks that,

If Emily Brontë would have ever visited Meghalaya, she might have mistaken it for the real-life counterpart of her wild and wind-swept moors in Wuthering Heights — mysterious, romantic, and quietly powerful.

In the tradition of Victorian literature, where places often carried the weight of emotion and memory, Meghalaya too, feels like a living character — not just a backdrop, but an experience that shapes those who pass through it. It is not merely a city in the hills; it’s a landscape of feeling. Calm yet spirited; distant yet deeply embracing. (Indrani Chakrabarty)

The first Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever is on the works in Birmingham as reported by The Birmingham Press (with a bonus blunder)

The Heath Bookshop, winner of the Independent Bookshop of the Year 2025, announce they will be staging the first Birmingham based The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever on York Road in Kings Heath on Sunday 27th July at 2pm.

The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever is an event held at locations around the world where participants recreate the music video for Kate Bush’s iconic song Wuthering Heights coming together to collectively perform the dance seen in the video (red dress version!).

The Birmingham Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever will be held to raise money for Birmingham-based charities Anawim – Birmingham’s Centre for Women and WE:ARE (Women’s Empowerment And Recovery Educators) Domestic Abuse Empowerment Programmes.

Participants will be asked to book a ticket and donate £5. Those who prefer to watch can come along to support and donate if they can.

Catherine from The Heath Bookshop said: “I am a huge Kate Bush fan and so when we opened the shop a friend beautifully upcycled a coffee table for us with a photo of Kate Bush and the pages of Charlotte Bronte’s Wuthering Heights (sic!) covering it. Last year, I attended my first The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever in Miller Park in Preston, performing the iconic dance with hundreds of other people dressed as Kate Bush!

“It was a beautifully inclusive and moving event and raised a large amount of money for a charity helping women who are victims of domestic violence. I came back to Birmingham and suggested to Claire, the other owner of the shop, that we put one on in 2025 in Kings Heath to raise money for two Birmingham charities we have worked with before, Anawim and WE:ARE”.

Claire from The Heath Bookshop added: “We knew this would be a great event to hold in Birmingham and especially in Kings Heath as the local community support the many arts events that happen here and always support charity events. It seemed even more fitting that we should host a dance event since our employee, Abi, is also a dancer in her spare time! Each location that hosts the event have a video to teach participants the steps. We asked Abi if she’d be happy to learn the dance and to make a video to teach people that want to take part. She happily agreed and now we’re all ready to go!”

The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever events have previously taken place in locations such as Sydney, Copenhagen, Berlin, Folkestone, and Preston and typically take place in late July to coincide with Kate Bush’s birthday (30th July).

Catherine continued: “One thing we do need a bit of help with is that we are looking for a donation of a stage large enough to hold a PA system and for us to be raised up to demonstrate the dance to participants on the day, if anyone is able to donate this, we would be really grateful! The event really is open to everyone, you can do as much or as little of the dance as you like and all ages, genders and abilities are welcome. You can go full Kate Bush with your costume or simply wear a bit of red as a nod to the red dress Kate wears in the video”.

Jess Phillips, Birmingham Yardley MP and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls) will be opening the event with a short speech.

Derby World lists Hathersage as inspiration for Jane Eyre on a list of 'The top 16 Derbyshire and Peak District market towns and villages to visit or move to in 2025'.