Harrisville Soundscape by L.A. Dierker

In the summer of 2021 the clatter of Model Ts, steam locomotives, and horse-drawn carriages were once again be heard in Harrisville. The occasion was the premiere of L.A. Dierker’s new composition Harrisville Soundscape, which was commissioned by Historic Harrisville for both the town’s sesquicentennial and the organization’s 50th anniversary.

The foundation of Dierker’s composition are two major landmarks—the sounds of the streams and the mill. “The bass line in the composition is the sound of the stream, which flows in and around the mill buildings,” she writes. “Then various distinctive sounds enter, each conveying, in chronological order, an aspect of the town.”

“The horses and wagon/carriage and steam locomotives speak to the earlier town of the industrial era; steam engines prior to electrification and the introduction of the internal-combustion engine,” Dierker continues.

“The Model T automobile heralds a new era for the Cheshire Mills. The narration describes, in vivid imagery, the sounds enveloping the town and is accompanied by the spinning machines of the mill, along with dance tunes, which would have been heard from above the general store on dance nights.”

Dierker spent several weeks roaming the town with a small recording device, capturing relevant sounds. “In these last fifty years, with the closing of the mill, new soundmarks distinguish the town; the hand looms of Harrisville Designs, the Children’s Center, and the cafe of the general store.”

Ending the composition is the soundmark heralding the future of Harrisville, the turbine powering not only the mill, but the town!”

Read more about Dierker and the composition at https://www.historicharrisville.org/news/la-dierker-explores-the-sounds-of-harrisville.