Lyke Wake Dirge // Martin Green - pt 1

Old Tunes Fresh Takes

This episode we're joined by Martin Green who is challenging you to reimagine Lyke Wake Dirge, an ancient funeral chant about the soul’s journey through purgatory.

Martin is a multi-award winning musician and composer who has collaborated with many artists and musicians including the likes of Eliza Carthy, Joan Baez, Anais Mitchell and Aidan Moffatt. As a member of Lau he has won four BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for Best Group and in 2015 he was nominated in the Best Musician category. In 2019 he won the Ivor Novello award for his sound walk “Aeons” that was part of The Great Exhibition of the North.

We first came across Martin’s work in his 2015 show Flit, a multimedia, collaborative song cycle on the theme of migration. As a performer steeped in traditional music but with a process informed by sampling, electronics, and interdisciplinary storytelling, we wanted to get his insight on how he traverses these multiple planes

Check out Martin’s recent project The Portal here.

/// TAKE PART ///

Charts: example score, chords & lyrics (.pdf)

Playlist: Spotify playlist of existing versions of Lyke Wake Dirge.

Find a quick guide on how to submit here.

Martin will be back to listen to your takes in the second part of this episode released on Monday 27 September. If you’d like to be included in the podcast then try and get your version to us by Monday 20th September to get your versions included in the podcast. Drop us a message if you have any questions.

/// COMMUNITY ///

If you’re interested in getting deeper into the conversation, come and join our group on Facebook. There’s been some amazing chats over the last month with people sharing demos, feedback and ideas.

/// MUSIC CREDITS ///

10:54 - Strange Sky - Martin Green (featuring Becky Unthank) [From Flit]

17:10 - Etteridge - Martin Green (featuring Brìghde Chaimbeul) [From The Portal]

19:46 - A Place Of Crisps And Pianos - Martin Green

28:48 - Lyke Wake Dirge - The Young Tradition

34:30 - Lyke Wake Dirge - Martin Green (featuring Becky Unthank)

39:41 - A Lyke Wake Dirge - Alasdair Roberts

42:06 - Dirge from Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings - Benjamin Britten (featuring Peter Pears)

43:45 - Lyke Wake Dirge - Trumpets of Death

46:55 - Lyke Wake Dirge - Tom Chapman, Claire Chapman and Dave Allen (members of the Lyke Wake Walking Club)

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