Thinking I Hear Thee Call [HL:1115715]

Thinking I Hear Thee Call by Cheryl Frances-Hoad is inspired by the life of Florence Attridge, an Essex woman who, whilst working at the Marconi factory in Chelmsford during WWII, helped to make secret radio sets for spys. In this piece for soprano, speaker and electronics, we hear Florence recount her experiences, whilst, in another, secret location, in another time, a spy goes through the radio's (complicated!) set up instructions one last time before going on their first reconnaissance mission. The electronic element takes sounds that are associated with Florence's life and the history of Marconi, including morse code and “Absent”, the first song to be broadcast from the factory. The text for Florence's part was written by Frances M Lynch based on research by Patricia Fara, and the speakers text comes from the official manual for the The British Type 3 Mark II Spy Radio.

The work was commissioned by electric voice theatre and first Performed Online during the Covid-19 Pandemic, Aug 24th 2020 as part of the 'Echoes from Essex'. The project was supported by the Arts Council Emergency Response Fund (National Lottery).

The performers from electric voice theatre are:

Frances M Lynch - Soprano (Florence Attridge)

Margaret Cameron - Speaker (Spy).

The performers recorded their parts individually in their homes and the final work was combined with the composer's electronic track and produced by Frances M Lynch & Herbie Clarke at Birnam Studios, London.