Bridge Music Installation on the Mid-Hudson Bridge - Atlas Obscura
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Bridge Music

Mid-Hudson Bridge
Poughkeepsie, New York

This sound-art installation features songs composed using only the Mid-Hudson Bridge as an instrument. 

A white suspension bridge across a large river View all photos
Mid-Hudson Bridge in late afternoon light UFu at English Wikipedia/ CC BY 3.0
A white suspension bridge across a large river
Mid-Hudson Bridge in late afternoon light UFu at English Wikipedia/ CC BY 3.0
Bridge Music sign as seen from the north-facing pedestrian walkway on the east tower. KieferU (Atlas Obscura User)
View facing the listening station on the east tower with the buttons to trigger the music. KieferU (Atlas Obscura User)
Bridge Music listening station, located on the east tower. KieferU (Atlas Obscura User)
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Bridge Music is the work of composer Joseph Bertolozzi, who recorded sounds of bridge surfaces (including the suspension ropes, railings, girders, and conduit) being hit with various mallets. The resulting 11-track album contains no sounds outside of what was recorded using the Mid-Hudson Bridge itself, a Hudson Valley suspension bridge in Poughkeepsie, New York. (Bertolozzi was actually born in Poughkeepsie.)

The audio installation is experienced from listening stations that house 12 buttons (one for each track of the album and an additional composition called “Suite Poughkeepsie”) on the north-facing side of the bridge’s two towers.

Originally intended to be a live performance piece, the sound-art installation was completed in 2009 as part of New York’s 400th-anniversary observance of Henry Hudson’s voyage up the Hudson River.

Know Before You Go

There are two listening stations located at each bridge tower on the north-facing pedestrian walkway. The stations are open from dawn to dusk April 1 through October 31.  Nearby park radios on either side of the bridge play the music year-round on 95.3FM.

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