ONE of the region's most innovative and inventive artists is tuning his creative side into the sounds of a West Gallery music ensemble.

Artist Russell Mills and his musical collaborator Mike Fearon will be working with filmmaker Charlie Leek, recording and filming The Gladly Solemn Sound performance on Saturday (July 15, 2.30pm) at Martindale’s ancient and atmospheric St Martin’s 'Old' Church.

Martindale is on the south eastern shore of Ullswater.

The Lancaster choir's concert will include a rare performance of the poignant funeral hymn My Life’s A Shade (1753), with music by William Knapp (1698-1768). The music partly inspired Russell's ideas for the Now Then multimedia installation, which was staged at the ArtWorks, Shaw Lodge Mills, at Halifax two years ago. Russell aims to integrate the recordings into the final mixes of the Now Then soundwork tracks for release in the sixth in the series of limited edition full colour books with CDs entitled Still Moves.

Still Moves is an ongoing series of limited edition, A5 full colour hardback books, each containing two CDs, charting the evolution of the numerous site-specific multimedia installations made by Russell and Mike since 1994 for venues in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Japan.

Led by Paul Guppy, The Gladly Solemn Sound choir, formed in Lancaster in 1992, sings West Gallery music - also known Georgian psalmody - the rural church music of the 18th and early 19th centuries, when few small churches had organs, their choirs singing unaccompanied or led by fiddles, clarinets, cellos, and other instruments.

The Gladly Solemn Sound - named after words from a hymn by Charles Wesley - repertoire consists mainly of English metrical psalm settings, anthems and carols as well as related material such as secular glees.

The music is florid and lively, rhythmically energetic, delighting in earthy (sometimes unorthodox) harmonies and simple polyphony.

For further information telephone 01524-68621 or 01524-32062.