VIRGINIA ASTLEY

FROM GARDENS WHERE WE FEEL SECURE

JO KENDALL

(Rough Trade, 1983) In an increasingly tumultuous world, it’s important to seek mental solace from time to time. What better chance to consider this uplifting, pastoral ambient work from British singer-songwriter Virginia Astley, which recently – softly – celebrated its 40th birthday? Even Astley’s name conjures up a watercoloured, bygone era, perhaps the days of Edith Holden’s 1906 Nature Notes, which became a hugely successful 1977 book, The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady, comprising the art teacher’s outdoor observations over a year? If only field recordings had been available to fit that landmark work… For centuries composers invoked the natural world – birdcalls, weather, rivers, sunrise. It was only a matter of time before Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending and its ilk – alongside emerging technology to capture found…

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Prog Italia (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 146

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