Where The Green Translucency Beats

by Ellen Southern

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about

A (loose) concept album based around the myth of Lyonesse (also referred to as Lethesowe), a kingdom which, according to legend, consisted of a long strand of land stretching from Land's End at the southwestern tip of Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly. It was lost after being swallowed by the ocean in a single night. Lyonesse's most significant feature was a castle-like cathedral that was built on top of what is now the Seven Stones Reef, and it is said that the tolling of the bell can still be heard from beneath the waves as the sun sets on the offing.

Ellen Southern created the vocal for Where The Green Translucency Beats in a single take 'field-recording' style in a resonant underground space that was part flooded at the time. The words of the poem were sung as an improvisation, using the tonality of a well known Cornish funeral song (Padstow's Farewell / Farewell Shanty), into which the sung poem morphs.

lyrics

Poem 'Sunk Lyonesse' by Walter De La Mare (1922)

In sea-cold Lyonesse,
When the Sabbath eve shafts down
On the roofs, walls, belfries
Of the foundered town,
The Nereids pluck their lyres
Where the green translucency beats,
And with motionless eyes at gaze
Make minstrelsy in the streets.

And the ocean water stirs
In salt-worn casemate and porch.
Plies the blunt-snouted fish
With fire in his skull for torch.
And the ringing wires resound;
And the uneiarthly lovely weep,
In lament of the music they make
In the sullen courts of sleep:

Whose marble flowers bloom for aye:
And—lapped by the moon-guiled tide—
Mock their carver with heart of stone,
Caged in his stone-ribbed side.

credits

released September 28, 2022
Artwork by Ellen Southern

This track is from the album Lethesowe Bell and was created in 2018. Thanks to Andrew Cooke of Saltings who invited me to take part in the project.

Hear the full album:
saltings.bandcamp.com/album/lethesowe-bell
Tracks 1,3,5 written and performed by Andrew Cooke.
Track 2 featuring Matthew Grigg (guitar)
Track 4 featuring Harry Furniss (cornet)
Track 6 featuring Ellen Southern (voice)

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Ellen Southern Bristol, UK

Selected Releases / Live Recordings / Collaborations / Archived works.

"A strength that can only come from the unseen and the unheard, giving life to bone rattling ritualistic transmissions" - Rough Trade Bristol

FB: @ellensouthernvoice/

Twitter: @ellen_southern

Works Archive: www.ellensouthern.co.uk

Site Singing work in progress and field recordings:
sitesinging.bandcamp.com ... more

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