"For the beautiful Section 4 of Flow, I wanted to celebrate the rewilding projects that took place between 2016 and 2022 under the LIFE Lech “Dynamic River System Lech” at Elmen-Nussau and Vorderhornbach."I was immediately inspired by the photo of the sound being recorded at the bridge. Imagining being in that moment, overlooking the meandering turquoise braids of water, the gravel beds and the dark green forests and wondering what the ecology of this area would be like and that I'd need to hike here one day. So I wanted to bring together an ecological sonic landscape."The river is played using a rainwater-filled glass harp, guided by the geomorphic imagery. Using a recurring motion of playing the top of a wine glass, I wanted to embody the water movement of the River Lech. Moving not as a straight line but more in swirls, spirals and circles, flowing left and right."Varying the level of rainwater in each glass created a scale of resonating frequencies that formed individual braids of the river. I found joy in playing the glasses in the imagery of this section of the River Lech. Occasionally, using a particular resistance when playing the glass to give a sense of friction against the gravel beds and under the bridges, sometimes slowing the pace of the river down afterwards."I used the field recording of the river to create artistic interpretations of ten animal vocalisations from birds, amphibians, fish, and insects. By selecting out the matching spectral vocal range of these species. Many of which were on the LIFE Lech's target list."A low D whistle creates the feel of a riparian forest. Researching the rewilding projects, I discovered the number of important plants in the area, such as Dwarf Bullrush and German Tamarisk, and that, in the summer months, over 6,000 Lady's-slipper Orchids inhabit the forest on the upper left side of this section of the river. Botanical drawings of these plants were turned into sonic spectrograms, which were blended into the piece."At the Elmen-Nussau location, 10 groynes on the left riverbank were shortened by a total of 280 m. Included as 10 slightly intrusive faded notes panned to the left at their rough positioning of where they once sat on the riverbed, before the first rewilding melody of the piece."At the Vorderhornbach location, Linear and cross constructions were shortened or removed over a 2 km length on both banks. A particularly forested section, here I have made this section of the piece fuller and wilder before the sounding of the “Hornbach” tributary line, which joins the River Lech, moves us into the melody for the second time."I loved the idea of connection with other parts of the river, with the river being an important corridor between different habitats. I incorporated 6 seconds of a sound bite called 'Dusty Stem' that Bill McKenna kindly donated from section 1. I have taken the sound bite down by 3 semitones, imagining it carried down the river through sections 2 and 3, and into 4."Section of the river Lech reimagined by Rachel Larsen-Jones. -------Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of Padova and the University of Würzburg, with support from Cities and Memory. Explore the full project at https://citiesandmemory.com/flow.

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