Cambridge Cycle of Songs

About Cambridge Cycle of Songs

The Cycle of Songs App lets you experience the city of Cambridge in a new and unique way. You will hear largely untold stories that celebrate the history and identity of the city through words and songs, producing a new aural landscape that celebrates forgotten stories from Cambridge’s past that resonate with the present.

Nine pieces were commissioned from a wide range of composers and poets, inspired by historical research and based on words from original sources of fascinating stories. You can hear a haunting
anthem by King's Chapel, a composition about the concept of infinity that will mesmerise you at the gates of Emmanuel College, a jaunty song about Hobson's Horses on Trumpington Street, or polemical raps and blues about the fights for equality on the pavements by the Market Square, so listen in to explore these places with new sounds in your ears!

The songs and poems that feature were developed with local choirs, schools, artists, and members of the community in Cambridge, supported by leading historians and lyricists, composers and musicians connected to the City. For those who can’t get to Cambridge the armchair mode lets you manually play songs wherever you might be.

The Cycle of Songs is an Arts Council England-funded project to the award-winning Pilot Theatre and Historyworks, commissioned to coincide with the visit of the Tour de France to Cambridge. You will be able to listen to these words and songs all inspired by iconic locations and quirky stories geo-located along the route that the cyclists travel for their visit to Cambridge on 7th July 2014, designed to leave a digital legacy to delight residents and tourists alike.