Vivien Ellis: The Dawn Songs, Alfonso the Wise and a chicken shed
Singer Vivien Ellis performs medieval, renaissance and traditional music with international ensembles The Dufay Collective, Sinfonye, and her own duo Alva. She sings with British jazz composer and pianist Keith Tippett’s big band Tapestry, Stevie Wishart’s contemporary group Transients and the Helen Chadwick Group.
Her recent CD of renaissance Spanish music with The Dufay Collective, ‘Cancionero’, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2003. BBC Radio 3 Early Music Show presenter Catherine Bott said: ‘I am absolutely bowled over by the simplicity and clarity of Vivien Ellis’s singing. Her voice is beautiful and true and most importantly just right for the music.’
In this pod3.tv video podcast, Vivien talks about her early life and influences which include: Alfonso the Wise, King Henry VIII, Frankie Armstrong, Dessislava Stefanova, Bulgaria... and a chicken shed.
Vivien also discusses her new CD “The Dawn Songs” about which she says: “Songs about the meeting or parting of lovers have fascinated me for many years, since I first encountered albas, by the troubadours of medieval France. My exploration of this extraordinary family of songs has taken me on an intriguing journey. I’ve discovered that the dawn meeting/parting motif exists in the poetry of almost every culture, from Egyptian texts of the thirteenth century BC, to blues lyrics of the American Deep South.
Across the globe and down the centuries, this archetypal human situation has inspired countless songs, from the ribald to the celebratory, from the erotic to the macabre. These dawn songs are some of the favourites I’ve found on my journey plus a couple of new ones”.
This fascinating video podcast also features a performance of The Lover’s Ghost (trad. Irish, voice, violin, guitar) with violinist Giles Lewin.
If you enjoyed the Minipod preview, download the full show to iTunes or to your desktop by clicking on the buttons above.
