Exploring sonority embedded in cultural heritage: Path, transit and listen through the Silver Route (Way of St James, NW Spain)

Abstract

Environmental sonority, related to viewing, listening and walking along a path, has only seldom been contemplated in the first European Cultural Route, the Way of St James (Camino de Santiago). The research, focused on a section of the Silver Route (Vía de la Plata) variant (Galicia, north-west Iberian Peninsula), defines several sound environments configured by the sound sources, acoustic properties and the culture of the territory. Integrating the environmental sonority in a musical piece facilitates the promotion of knowledge and awareness of the sound heritage, together with an implied appreciation for it. The audible spectrum, provided with emotional and evocative power, has an important role in defining cultural heritage from the present to the future. Furthermore, it is particularly relevant in confinement situations as the one experienced in Europe in the year 2020.