Sussurra Luce x Radio Raheem. Episode 04: Francesco Cavaliere reads Rachel L. Carson, The Sea Around Us
I encountered the work of American author and marine biologist Rachel L. Carson (1907-1964) in June 2021 in Puerto de la Cruz (Tenerife), through Amy Faust, a visionary film maker who was just finishing reading one of Carson’s books. Amy was the first to tell me about a publication she had already read, The Sea Around Us: “You have to read it, it makes me think of things you could write,” she said. I asked her to lend me her copy. A paperback copy, rather destroyed, without cover and back cover. I decided to keep it in my green folder. I had almost finished to read it, when I accidentally came across the first Italian edition of the same book, now located on my little table waiting to be read in the next chapters. After a few months, Amy aka “Phantasia”, known for her long camera shots of objects and anything else from reality, started sharing images previously broadcast on Spanish national television. The continuous live broadcast of the eruptions of the Cumbre Vieja volcano officially ended on December 25, 2021. The connection between Rachel L. Carson and the volcanic activity that hit Tenerife, while stealing the share of everything being broadcast at that time, are rather obvious but no less fascinating and indeed relevant to the scientific environment and surroundings. This is one of the satellite images Amy shared during that time, the new cliff formation. Francesco Cavaliere
Lieven Martens (Lieven Martens Moana, formerly Dolphins Into The Future) is a composer and observer. He makes a conceptual form of programme music that travels beyond the pure description. His works are like narrative stills; encounters with objects and thoughts. These songs I selected for you are not per se thematically linked. Yet they are all covered by ocean spray, salt – waves: the sea around us.
Christina Vantzou is a Brussels-based composer who deals with time expansion, atmospheres and harmonies through electronics and acoustic instruments. Her releases include four numbered solo albums of ambient-classical music on Kranky, 2020’s Multi-Natural; a foray into abstract electronics and field recordings on the Belgian label Edições CN, two full-length albums with John Also Bennett as CV & JAB, and many other solo and collaborative works. Shaping ceremonial and affective spaces using voice, field recordings, piano and electronics combined with the practice of possibility, oral tradition and a deep respect for sound and listening drives her latest recordings, albums and performances.
