- Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station’s cooling towers have become the setting for a musical performance by award-winning musician, Dr Sarah Watts
- Dr Watts, University of Sheffield performer composer and Nottingham local, teamed up with University of Nottingham composer, Elizabeth Kelly, to create musical tributes to the power station’s famous towers
- Videos of the performances in one of the cooling towers and ‘making of’ interviews are now available for all to enjoy
Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station’s cooling towers became the unusual stage for a new musical performance by bass clarinet specialist Dr Sarah Watts, Director of Performance at the University of Sheffield, as the station undergoes decommissioning.
Nottingham local Dr Sarah Watts has spent her career performing at venues all over the world. For her latest project she has teamed up with composer Elizabeth Kelly, Professor of Music Composition at the University of Nottingham, to record music in a unique setting much closer to home.
The cooling towers have been part of the Nottinghamshire skyline since the power station was commissioned in the late 1960s. Following the end of coal fired electricity generation in September 2024, musicians Dr Watts and Professor Kelly were inspired to collaborate on two musical pieces to document and celebrate the unique acoustics of the cooling towers, with permission from Uniper, the power station’s owners, and support from the operational team at Ratcliffe.
Dr Watt’s first visit to the site in March 2025 inspired her to compose her piece ‘It’s All I’ve Known’, following her conversation with a Ratcliffe team member about the future.
Dr Sarah Watts said: “I wanted to create music that documented the building, the acoustics, the history and the story of the cooling towers. I think people document places like this through photographs, interviews, film footage, but I took this as a chance to document the acoustics because they are very unique and once these have gone there is no way of getting that back.”
Professor Elizabeth Kelly composed her piece ‘Cooling Cathedral’ to explore the exceptional resonance of the industrial space. In the work, Dr Watts plays percussive sounds on her bass clarinet which echo across the space, and a melody which blends together into harmonies as the music unfolds.
Professor Kelly explained: “My piece was inspired by the incredible acoustic in the cooling towers. The extraordinary resonance of the space reminded me of a cathedral.”
Professor of Electroacoustic Music Composition at the University of Sheffield, Adrian Moore, was the sound recordist on the project. He used the opportunity to capture the full immersive 3D soundscape of the tower and hopes the unusual space can be heard through the musical recordings.
Professor Moore said: “To record in the cooling towers was quite a unique experience as you want to capture the instrument, but at the same time capture the ambience. As there are very few man-made spaces, which are so enveloping yet open to the sky, it makes the event a unique experience, made possible by Sarah listening extremely carefully to the result of her sounds inside the unique space. It was quite a humbling visual and aural experience which I hope comes over in the recordings.”
The musical compositions are dedicated to the workers of Ratcliffe power station, past and present, their families, and the surrounding communities who have lived with the eight cooling towers on the skyline.
Sean Atton, Site Manager at Uniper’s Ratcliffe power station, said: “Having these pieces of music recorded in the cooling towers, whilst they are still standing, is just fantastic. It’s another unique way of remembering these structures.”
The music videos for ‘It’s all I’ve known’, ‘Cooling Cathedral’ and ‘making of’ interviews are now available on the University of Nottingham’s YouTube channel for all to enjoy as a record of the cooling tower acoustics, and a celebration of the role Ratcliffe power station, and its employees have played in keeping the lights on over the years.
