Patrick Wolf writes Tyntesfield-inspired song

If you’re one of the lucky few hundred people who bagged a ticket for this unique collaboration between Patrick Wolf, Bristol’s In Between Time Festival and the National Trust’s Tyntesfield, just outside Bristol, then you’re in for a treat. And if you missed out, fear not as the venture has been immortalised in a brand new song.

National Trust’s New Art project has already made its mark on Bristol, with some impressive art installations at Tyntesfield and in Leigh Woods (with more on the way); but this sidestep into the world of live music marks a new direction for the initiative. Night Songs will see Wolf joined by a host of performance artists to occupy this mysterious mansion against a Gothic backdrop of spiralling turrets and pinnacles at one of the National Trust’s more recent acquisitions.

And the appetite for this crossover of old and new is clear to see, with tickets for Wolf’s two nights at the Chapel in Tyntesfield selling out within hours. He’s now preparing to take the show on the road – visiting other National Trust properties around the UK (full details tbc).

It’s borne out of a deep love of historical places and a willingness to explore and embrace the stories which they are full of and saw Wolf staying at  Tyntesfield ahead of the concerts. “The National Trust has protected so much of our country from being sold to Dubai or China, or being knocked down and turned into another concrete chain coffee shopping centre.” said Wolf.

No stranger to collaboration, Patrick’s rich history has featured creations with Arcade Fire, Patti Smith and Tilda Swinton. As part of the project, he’s received his first ever commission to write a new song, inspired by the Victorian mansion – one which he’ll showcase at the live show. He said: “I was invited to stay at Tynesfield. Being alone in a overwhelming location, that’s when my songs write themselves.  

“There is a certain invisible history to Tyntesfield. For instance, it was almost shocking going through the diaries when suddenly the impact of Yellow Fever and Tuberculosis takes grip, it seemed at one point every letter received or sent from the house, another relative just suddenly died and mainly on the estate. He added: “There were a couple of times I felt like i was drowning in family history.”

So just how did he make the step from researching family history and absorbing the Tyntesfield vibe to creating a new piece of music?

“I was struggling to relate to someone who was born with an estate, staff, land, property, when even in my adult life like most of my generation the prospect of even owning a house one day seems mythical,” said Wolf. “William Gibbs, the founder of the house, was born into bankruptcy and with amazing determination and self belief, completely turned his own fortune around to the back drop of French Revolution, cross Atlantic journeys to Peru and public ridicule for being “the richest commoner” in the country. 

“What is the point of owning property or land? What do we leave behind if we don’t have children? I feel the song has gone from being a commission to actually belonging within my next body of work.”

He added: “In a way, that’s what I hope more people will do one day with National Trust properties, to go and project their own imagination into the space and see what comes back at them.”

Patrick Wolf plays Tyntesfield’s chapel on February 14 & 15. Sold out.