Score for an independent bell

And so everyday life begins. A subtlety made up of sounds that we recognise but so often ignore. It’s just background noise. Today, there are no witches — there is guilt. The voice as a mirror of discomfort, of coughing, of screaming. And the bells, always there. In the distance, persistent, like an entity dictating the pace of our steps. At a time when “freedom” has become a fragile word, we whisper, we murmur, we chant — and we become the crowd that, for a moment, makes itself heard above the bells.

It was from this attentive — and restless — listening that, in March 2025, a group of curious sound enthusiasts gathered in Braga for a radio art workshop, promoted by Braga Media Arts, as part of Braga 25 — Portuguese Capital of Culture. Under the guidance of Sarah Washington and Knut Aufermann (Mobile Radio), a broadcast was created from this soundscape.

When thinking about the sound identity of Braga — marked by a notable religious presence, which earned it the epithet ‘Portuguese Rome’ — one always comes back to bells. They inhabit the towers of the city’s countless churches, mark time, sing sacred melodies, call people to prayer. And sometimes they seem to scrutinise souls in search of sins. Because they exist — and because they make themselves heard — bells inevitably shape our daily lives.

The bells and chordophones heard in this piece were recorded during rehearsals and performances of the artistic project ‘Novos Ecos de Uma Paisagem Sonora’ (New Echoes of a Soundscape), by the Percussion Group of the University of Minho, directed by João Dias, accompanied on the Braguesa guitar and cavaquinho by Luís Capela.

Concept and recordings: Bernardo Pinheiro, Brendan Hemsworth, Cátia Faísco, José Costa, Líria Varne, Luís Pinto, Mi, Pedro Rui, Rui Tavares, Sara Pereira, Steffi Koch, Virgínia Valente, Marta Durão.

Editing and production: Brendan Hemsworth

Acknowledgements: João Dias, Luís Capela, Fábio Saraiva, Filipe Abreu, Pedro Arrieche, Simão Veiga, Carlos Jerónimo, Francisco Novais and Sara Borges; Circuito Braga Media Arts / Braga 25; Rádio Universitária do Minho; Fundição de Sinos de Braga.