Tarka inspires son's composition

Harry, sitting in front of a painting of his father, Henry Williamson, grew up in Georgeham.

For many, the story of Tarka the Otter is synonymous with the beautiful countryside of North Devon.

The area featured heavily in Henry Williamson's classic 1927 novel.

Henry's son Harry was so inspired by his father's story that he composed The Tarka Symphony in the 1970s with former Genesis guitarist, Anthony Phillips.

Harry, who now lives in Australia, is reimagining his musical work as what he describes as a "musical tribute to two distinctive ecological regions".

Those regions are North Devon, renowned for generations as Tarka Country and now the UK's first new style UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and the Mornington Peninsula Biosphere Reserve in Victoria, southern Australia.

Audio slideshow with Tarka Country images and the Tarka Symphony

The symphony, in three movements, follows the life cycle of an otter and the flow of water through the country of the two rivers (as Williamson called it), the North Devon landscape.

Harry has been filming in Braunton Burrows for his latest project - he is planning to have the score he wrote performed as a symphony live for the first time.

He wants to project images of Tarka country as a backdrop.

"My aim with the music and, I think Henry's with the book, as well as telling the story has always been to awaken people to the beauty that surrounds them," said Harry.

'Inestimable value'

"I've always been seduced, if you like, by the dark beauty of the upper reaches of the Taw and the Torridge."

Harry, who grew up in Georgeham, near Braunton, is spending September 2009 in Devon filming the images for the Australian collaborative project Precious Music, Precious Water which will feature the world premiere live performance of Tarka in 2010.

"My main aim is to draw people's attention to the inestimable value of such areas.

Returning for Tarka inspiration

"I hope our music continues to inspire more generations of people, around the globe."

Biosphere Reserves are designated by the United Nations (through UNESCO) as areas with internationally important environments where there is a focus on sustainable development, learning and conservation.

"Rivers link the countryside to the coast and sea," explains Andy Bell, North Devon's Biosphere Reserve co-ordinator.

"The borders of North Devon's Biosphere Reserve are largely defined by river catchments and Harry's work reminds us all of the importance of water and its role in our culture and heritage.

"We hope that the Tarka Symphony can be heard in the Biosphere Reserve in the near future."

North Devon's Biosphere Reserve is centred on Braunton Burrows and includes the North Devon Coast Areas of Outstanding National Beauty, the Taw and Torridge Estuary, Lundy Island and communities in towns and villages from the coast to the edge of Exmoor in the east, Hartland in the west and the foot of Dartmoor in the south.