Elektra gives new musical life to the language of nature in The Lost Words: A Spell Book
Elektra Women’s Choir’s world premiere celebrates words related to the natural world that the 2007 Oxford Junior Dictionary left out in favour of tech terms
Elektra Women’s Choir.
Elektra Women’s Choir presents The Lost Words: A Spell Book on October 1 and October 2 at 8 pm at Pacific Spirit United Church
AFTER OXFORD UNIVERSITY Press released the 2007 edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary, with more than 10,000 entries, a keen reader noticed what wasn’t included. Some 40 common words had been removed, like dandelion, bramble, heron, and newt. They all related to nature. And they were replaced with terms such as blog, bullet-point, and voice-mail.
Tens of thousands of people signed a petition for the publishing house to reinstate words related to the natural world. British writer Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Jackie Morris teamed up to respond through a “spell book”. The Lost Words features 40 terms that the two celebrate through text and watercolour, the pair hoping to bring them back into children’s minds and lives.
Morna Edmundson, artistic director of Vancouver’s Elektra Women’s Choir, found herself captivated by the coffee-table book when she came across it at a friend’s house just before the pandemic—so much so that she thought, “I wonder if we could get the rights for it?” Edmundson got busy and wrote to the powers that be in England. Now, Elektra’s The Lost Words: A Spell Book—featuring 20 words—is about to have its world premiere.
The ambitious interdisciplinary performance features readings from the book by local actor Laara Sadiq and new works by 10 Canadian composers, which will be performed by Elektra and six instrumentalists. Morris’s paintings will be projected on a large screen, and audiences will encounter an installation of real brambles, fern, flowers, and other foliage at the venue. It’s all to celebrate The Lost Words’ “re-wilding of childhood”.
“The book is so rich,” Edmundson says in an interview with Stir. “It’s all natural colours: gold and green and brown. Each of the paintings is so evocative of whatever word it’s describing. As much as I was struck by the visuals that made me open the book, once I started reading the words I realized how amazing they were. Macfarlane doesn’t call them poems, because he considers himself a writer, not a poet; he calls them ‘spells’. The whole point is wanting to create some magic to bring the words back.
“I contacted 10 Canadian composers—five women and five men,” she adds. “They were each tasked with setting two of these spells to music. We have all 20 words covered.”
The commissions are short, no more than a few minutes each at most. Edmundson wanted Sadiq to read the spells before each composition is performed, so that audiences can fully take in the experience and gaze at the projected images without being distracted by reading program notes throughout.
Ramona Luengen.
Burnaby composer Ramona Luengen was onboard immediately. “The thought of drawing attention to elements of nature being arbitrarily removed from our children’s language, the opportunity of being a small part in a kind of musical resurrection, the absolute delight and charm of creating magical spells and, finally, having music performed by Elektra Women’s Choir in a multi-media setting… What a fabulously creative and inspiring opportunity this production offered for all 10 of us,” Luengen tells Stir.
Don Macdonald is another B.C. composer who has contributed new musical works to Elektra’s production. “I was excited to be involved in bringing this incredible poetry to life,” says Macdonald, who’s also composer in residence with Chor Leoni. “I believe strongly in what this book is trying to achieve and feel that music will enhance the message and bring it to a broader audience.
“I have an incredible amount of respect for Morna and Elektra,” adds the Nelson-based musician. “Their combined dedication to artistry means that a composer’s work is in incredibly good hands.”
Also composing for The Lost Words are Vancouver’s Katerina Gimon, Rodney Sharman, and Stephen Smith; Penticton’s Nicholas Ryan Kelly; Carmen Braden, who’s from Yellowknife; Toronto’s Alex Eddington; Montreal’s Marie-Claire Saindon; and Brownsville, Texas-based Monica Pearce (who was born in PEI). Audiences can expect everything from soaring vocals to cello and piccolo; even flower pots make an instrumental appearance.
Prior to the performance, a pre-concert video interview with the artists starts at 7:40 pm.
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