Maria Fusco: Master Rock by Artangel

Ben Cruachan is one of the highest peaks on the west coast of Scotland. In the early 1960s the 'tunnel tigers' blasted their way through the 450 million-year-old granite to hollow out a vast chamber for a new power station. Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in October 1965, Cruachan Power Station was a triumph of brute force and state-of-the-art technology.

Fusco's repertoire for a mountain fuses sound from Cruachan power station with three spoken voices: an Irish tunnel tiger, a forgotten artist, and the voice of the 450 million year-old granite itself.

Recorded inside Ben Cruachan, Scotland 15 October 2015 and originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 22:15, 17 October, this work is preceded by a 2-minute introduction from Maria Fusco.

More about the project: www.artangel.org.uk/projects/2015/master_rock

Image: Men work on a tailrace tunnel for Cruachan Power Station, 1963. Photographer unknown, courtesy of The Herald & Times Group