Soundtrack to life in London
A soundscape of London featuring songs by the Clash, Tube announcements and market traders' cries was echoing through Leicester Square today.
The one-hour impression of the capital was created by Heaven 17 musician Martyn Ware and will be broadcast from treetop speakers for 10 days.
It includes cockney rhyming slang, the chimes of Big Ben, Notting Hill carnival and London Zoo. Ware, 52, who lives in Primrose Hill, travelled around the city as a tourist to research the sounds.
He said: "The work started turning into a love poem to London. I hope it will wake up Londoners to regard noise as a thing of potential beauty."
Westminster council backed the project to the tune of £8,000.
Councillor Ed Argar, Westminster's cabinet member for community services, said the composition "encompasses so much of what makes our city so unique".
Soundlife London was launched at 11am today and runs until 7pm on 14 June.
To listen to some clips of London sounds, click on the links below
