Music Stones: The Rediscovery of Ringing Rock
By (author) Mike Adcock Foreword by Evelyn Glennie
Paperback (Published)
(September 2025)
ISBN: 9781805830146
6.85 x 9.65 inches
Price: $45.00
In stock
Stone instruments, known as lithophones, are believed to date back to prehistoric times. This book explores their more recent musical uses-from 18th-century sets in England to Vietnam’s ancient slabs, sound sculptures, and experimental compositions-revealing the enduring resonance of stone in music and art.
Music Stones is a fascinating account of the surprising and little-known ways in which stone has been used to create music. The use of stone instruments (lithophones) is thought to date back to prehistoric times, but here the focus is on a more recent interest being shown in the sound of stone. This all began in 1785, when Peter Crosthwaite, from Keswick in England’s Lake District, assembled his set of Music Stones, collected from the foot of Mount Skiddaw. From the 1840s onwards a succession of so-called rock bands from Keswick were inspired to produce bigger and better instruments and perform widely on them, including, in one case, playing at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria. The story continues into the twentieth century when, in 1949, the unearthing of an ancient set of tuned stone slabs in Vietnam, led to a revival of interest in lithophones in that country. A connection is also made between the sound of stone and the process of stone-carving, with particular reference to the work of Barbara Hepworth, as well as other sculptors such as Pinuccio Sciola, who was to become known internationally for his sound sculptures. Another focus is on the world of experimental music, in which some musicians and composers, keen to challenge ideas of what might constitute a musical instrument, have explored a range of geological possibilities, from vast rocky landscapes through to tiny pebbles. In the final chapter, a selection of contemporary practitioners write about their own musical involvement with the sound of stone.
Foreword by Dame Evelyn Glennie
Chapter One: Peter Crosthwaite
Chapter Two: The New Contenders - Limestone, lithophones and a rock harmonicon
Chapter Three: A stonemason, a boatman and a fiddler - Two cousins, William Irwin and the sound of slate William Bowe
Chapter Four: Richardson's Original Rock Band - London and beyond
Chapter Five: Playing by Royal Command - Richardson's Rock, Bell and Steel Band at Buckingham Palace
Chapter Six: The Till Family Rock Band - Following in the footsteps
Chapter Seven: The Tills in the USA - The rise of the rockophone
Chapter Eight: Honore Baudre - Antediluvian music and a geological piano
Chapter Nine: The Abrahams - Limelight in the Lakes
Chapter Ten: A Yorkshire Dalesman and a Menorcan Don - Neddy Dick and Don Antonio Roca y Varez
Chapter Eleven: Circuses, music halls and musical pavements - Arthur Nelson, the Pavanellas and the Bozza Troupe
Chapter Twelve: The Twentieth Century - A chronological miscellany of musical stone
Chapter Thirteen: Vietnam - The rediscovery of lithophones in South East Asia
Chapter Fourteen: Experimental Music Stones - Investigations in geological indeterminacy
Chapter Fifteen: The gift of sound and vision - Sculptural music and musical sculpture
Chapter Sixteen: The new stone age - Statements from contemporary practitioners
Bibliography
,
Foreword by Dame Evelyn Glennie
Chapter One: Peter Crosthwaite
Chapter Two: The New Contenders – Limestone, lithophones and a rock harmonicon
Chapter Three: A stonemason, a boatman and a fiddler – Two cousins, William Irwin and the sound of slate William Bowe
Chapter Four: Richardson’s Original Rock Band – London and beyond
Chapter Five: Playing by Royal Command – Richardson’s Rock, Bell and Steel Band at Buckingham Palace
Chapter Six: The Till Family Rock Band - Following in the footsteps
Chapter Seven: The Tills in the USA – The rise of the rockophone
Chapter Eight: Honoré Baudre – Antediluvian music and a geological piano
Chapter Nine: The Abrahams – Limelight in the Lakes
Chapter Ten: A Yorkshire Dalesman and a Menorcan Don – Neddy Dick and Don Antonio Roca y Várez
Chapter Eleven: Circuses, music halls and musical pavements – Arthur Nelson, the Pavanellas and the Bozza Troupe
Chapter Twelve: The Twentieth Century – A chronological miscellany of musical stone
Chapter Thirteen: Vietnam – The rediscovery of lithophones in South East Asia
Chapter Fourteen: Experimental Music Stones – Investigations in geological indeterminacy
Chapter Fifteen: The gift of sound and vision – Sculptural music and musical sculpture
Chapter Sixteen: The new stone age – Statements from contemporary practitioners
Bibliography
IndexÂ
- By (author) Mike Adcock
- Foreword by Evelyn Glennie
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