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The sound of the River Po, Turin

Turin, Italy: a freezing cold December afternoon in the city centre, next to the impressive River Po – here, the river roars over a large weir on its way down through the city.

To get the full impression of the sound, which was mightily loud, you’d have to turn the field recording right up – it really is an all-enveloping sound in situ.

New contributor Julian Weaver has reimagined the sound, about which he writes:

“In the introduction to his last film The Turin Horse, Béla Tarr, after repeating the apocryphal tale of Friedrich Nietzsche’s breakdown, ends with the statement “Of the horse… we know nothing.”

“This is the only veracious line, evidenced by Anacleto Verrecchia’s ‘La Catastrofe di Nietzsche a Torino’, yet each retelling elaborates further; adding spurious detail until nothing but detail remains: perfect post-truth interference.

“I’ve take an additive approach; the white noise of the weir on the River Po with those of equine breaths and freshets at the Hydro near Blarney, Co. Cork, Ireland.”

City version:

Memory version: