Clarion Call, 2018
A subsequent and related commission, Clarion Call was co-funded by Pacitti Company and 14-18 NOW the United Kingdom's WWI centenary art fund. It was presented across the Waterfront area of Ipswich, United Kingdom for the duration of SPILL Festival of Performance, in October 2018.
Using the same apparatus we reframed the intention of the work. Clarion Call was conceived as an ephemeral monument to the aftermath of wars past, present and future. The voices of women young and old, embodying cultures entwined by the Great War and reflected in the face of contemporary Britain, rang out in daily incantations to the setting sun. Instead of unifying us in grief, the composition of reimagined melodies provided a moment for a community to come together in hope and reflection.
The heart of the work was an evolving composition derived from English folk song Our Captain Cried (All Hands) used with the permission of the much revered Shirley Collins. A range of singers to provided interpretations of this melody – most notably Beth Gibbons from Portishead and Elizabeth Fraser from the Cocteau Twins. In addition, new to this iteration, we added massed voices, recording a large textural bed material with several women's choirs from the Ipswich area.
This project was assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
It was made possible by the tireless efforts of SPILL Festival director, Robert Pacitti and the support of 14-18 NOW.
“A modern act of remembrance that can be heard for miles”
BBC News“The marina had been turned into a gallery of beautiful spiritual sound”
East Anglian Daily TimesClarion Call – COLLABORATING VOCALISTS
Shirley Collins
Described as by Billy Bragg “without doubt one of England's greatest cultural treasures,” Shirley Collins is an English folk singer whose contribution to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s is unmatched. Having released only one album since 1976, it was a rare and exceptional honour to use Collins’ interpretation of Our Captain Cried (All Hands) as the central motif of Clarion Call.
Elizabeth Fraser
Scottish soprano Elizabeth Fraser is best known for her time as lead vocalist and lyricist of the Cocteau Twins. Since leaving the band Elizabeth has collaborated with numerous artists across genres – including Ian McCulloch, the Bathers, and Massive Attack for whom she provided the vocals for their hit Teardrops.
Beth Gibbons
Beth Gibbons first gained renown as the voice of Portishead. As well as her work with the trio, Beth has collaborated with artists as diverse as French pop legend Jane Birkin to stoner metal group, Gonga. In 2013, Gibbons was invited to perform composer Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 Symphony of Sorrowful Songs with the Polish National Radio Symphony.
Melanie Pappenheim
Melanie Pappenheim is a singer, performer and composer. Her versatility has allowed her to explore several different genres. She has worked with with many leading contemporary composers including Jocelyn Pook, Orlando Gough, Gavin Bryars and Graham Fitkin and performed in a huge variety of venues ranging from The Royal Opera House, the ENO, The Royal Albert Hall, the National Theatre, Glyndebourne, a barge on the Thames, a tent in Sussex, a tower in Wells, in clubs, in lighthouses, hillsides, halls and basements everywhere.
Elaine Mitchener
Elaine Mitchener is an experimental vocalist, movement artist and composer whose work encompasses
improvisation, contemporary music theatre and performance art. Mitchener’s creative practice attempts to develop a dynamic methodology by combining a wide array of techniques and performance tropes drawn from multiple global vocal traditions, both traditional western classical, contemporary, vernacular and experimental, and fusing these with a variety of approaches to improvisation, philosophies of movement, and aspects of contemporary new music theatre and performance art.
Wattisham Military Wives Choir
Founded in 2012 by Sally Wilkinson, whilst her husband was deployed in Afghanistan, Wattisham Military Wives Choir is a choir comprised of wives and girlfriends of personnel serving at Wattisham Flying Station, Suffolk.
Cherise Phillips
Cherise Phillips is an emerging singer/songwriter from Ipswich, UK with a great passion for music that touches the heart and soul.