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In 2018, Cosey Fanni Tutti was commissioned to write the soundtrack to director and actor Caroline Catz’s acclaimed, intimate portrayal of the composer, musician and sonic experimentalist, Delia Derbyshire (1937-2001).
Best known for her groundbreaking work on the 1963 Doctor Who theme tune, Derbyshire was instrumental in giving easy access to and rewiring a nation’s attitudes towards electronic music. Working within the often-stifling confines of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, her experimentalism - which saw her manipulating magnetic tape, found sounds and electronics - is only now being given full credit for the immeasurable impact it has had on the way we hear the world.
The album includes the audio explorations and experiments that lead Cosey Fanni Tutti to the final soundtrack for Catz’ film. From the 4-minute long ‘Cornet Lament’ to the humorous ‘Snuff Chorus’ (which references an addiction that Derbyshire had for snuff), the album is a journey through both Delia and Cosey’s practise – Fanni Tutti spent time researching Derbyshire’s archives (both musical and the more personal ephemera of her life) to create an audio world for Catz’s depiction of the artist to inhabit.
As Cosey herself puts it: “The music on this album includes the audio explorations and experiments that led to the creation of the finished soundtrack - the used and unused elements as I worked to find the 'Delia' sounds I felt best connected not only directly to her life experiences that influenced her music, but were expressive of, and representative of her. The compositions are inspired by my research of the Delia Derbyshire audio archive, Delia's original compositional notes and techniques which in combination with my admiration and love of Delia's work provided a way to integrate her style and approach to music with my own. An alliance of our sensibilities.”
