brighton festival: ear trumpet Queen’s Park, Brighton, Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17

SO the story goes should one place their ear close to the ground at midday in the Bincombe Bumps or Culliford Tree Barrow in South Dorset Ridgeway then the plaintive sounds of faerie music can be heard emitting from the Bronze Age burial mounds.

Now the National Institute For Sonic Geology is travelling up and down the country to seek out other “sonic eruptions”, using a series of specially designed ear trumpets.

“The ear trumpets are almost like 25 members of the cast,” says Lorna Rees, artistic director of Gobbledegook Theatre, who plays leading scientist Dr Stella Barrows.

“They all have their own characters, and their own names. We help people select the ear trumpet most appropriate for them to access the sonic eruptions underneath the ground.”

The institute will be setting up by the bowling green in Queen’s Park, and is expecting to hear a few sounds characteristic of both contemporary and historic Brighton.

“There may be something to do with the birds in Brighton,” says Rees. “And we’ve been doing a lot of research about the well dug near Queen’s Park which was deeper than the Empire State Building.”

The sounds have almost been soaked up by the geological strata – taking in spoken word as well as music.

Rees describes the process of discovering the sonic eruptions as “magical”, but adds there is a serious side.

“The piece is about listening to everything around you,” says Rees. “It’s about the sounds you might miss if you don’t pay attention to them in ordinary life which are quite special. When you really pay attention to them it’s quite beautiful. There is a secondary audience in the piece who are watching the people listening to the ear trumpets.”

The ear trumpets themselves are fairly Heath Robinson affairs, inspired by designs which date back to the Ancient Greeks, and incorporating gramophone horns and trumpet bells.

And the visual aesthetic is vintage 1940s, inspired by the look of the ear trumpets.

“What I love in our piece is listening to the audience,” says Rees. “We find out why they think the sound is erupting, and talk about what they’re hearing. We hear the most beautiful conversations.”

Starts noon to 2pm and 3pm to 5pm, free. Call 01273 709709. Six more Brighton Festival events this week. For tickets call 01273 709709

Duncan Hall