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Anna-Varney Cantodea (as photographed by Joachim Luetke in 2003)

Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows (often referred to as the simplified, "Sopor Aeternus" ^[8], [literally, "Eternal Sleep", a term meaning, "The Sleep of Death"] or even "Sopor") is a gothic, dark folk, or darkwave musical project founded by and consisting solely of the German musician, Anna-Varney Cantodea. It was formed some time in between or within the years of 1987 and 1989 ^[9].

Anna-Varney: Biography

Despite years of good (though not well-known) media attention (such as her interviews published in Orkus Magazine), not much is known about Cantodea. She tends not to talk about her personal life; a life which seems to have been filled with great grief and depression. From what little is known, Anna-Varney could be described as being transgender (she has in the past referred to herself as transgender, or more specifically a non-operative Male-to-female). Cantodea prefers to be referred as, "she," instead of, "he," and states that she does not seek to surgically alter her body due to reasons of, as she referes to it, "spiritual conflict." She took the name Anna-Varney Cantodea to reflect this, Anna being a typically feminine name, Varney possibly stemming from the horror story, "Varney the Vampire, or The Feast Of Blood," and Cantodea being a form of the Latin word for, "female singer." ^[10]

File:Itm04.jpg

A photograph of Cantodea, as seen in the album artwork of ..Ich töte mich...

She has said in several interviews that she spent nearly three decades in extreme states of depression, despair and loneliness. These emotions were cited as being brought on by being frequently beaten by her parents and peers in school, and by becoming somewhat suicidal at the age of twelve, along with many other experiences of severe depression throughout her life. One such instance could be the childhood trauma that Anna experienced by having an out-of-body experience whilst under sedation due to a surgical operation she was receiving at the age of six. ^[11] All of these events led up to and resulted in her discovery of the, "Ensemble Of Shadows": otherworldly presences and/or voices who stirred her musical senses and guided her to share the works in her mind with the public. She does not speak much on the subject of the Ensemble, though she does state that they (denoting that they are, in fact, individual, 'spirits')give her her musical inspiration in dreams. Hence, the word Sopor is a very important term in Anna-Varney's creations, as the word itself refers to "sleep" in Latin.

Anna-Varney seems to be a voluntarily isolated person, as she has spoken of fear, disgust, or sadness when in the presence of most individuals (aside from her few acquaintances, friends, interviewers, and those who help with her musical production), though she does state that she is less isolated now than she used to be. In any case, she does not perform live, "in front of humans." Anna-Varney does have a sense of humour however, such as admitting she loves Darth Vader and changing the Fruit of the Loom logo to, "Fruit of the Tomb," which incorporates her face into the design (as seen in her 2002 work, Nenia C'alladhan).

Musical Style

Anna-Varney's medieval-influenced music is emotional and melancholic, using a number of different of brass instruments, woodwinds (in particular, flutes), string quartets, violins, pipe organs, bells, and a variety of guitars. In some instances, synthesizers and drum machines or real percussion are used. Anna-Varney has clearly stated that she creates her music about herself, solely for herself. Various themes include death, suicide, unrequited love, karmatic pain, loneliness and sadness, astrological references, dreams and mythological figures (the latter usually appearing in her earliest albums).

File:Image:3723.jpg

A very important recurring theme is Cantodea's apparent Transsexualism and the idea of becoming or being a woman, including removal of the typically male genitalia in favour of attaining the female variant (in later album artwork, Anna-Varney is usually shown nude with a vagina which has been edited in with photo-manipulation techniques). As well, much of Anna's earlier works deals with mysticism and spirituality (more specifically a sort of spiritual failure). There are also several musical themes that reappear in her works; the most notable example is the song, "Birth - Fiendish Figuration," which has appeared in at least four forms on separate releases. Other songs contain similar melodic lines or lyrics from an earlier release.

Origin & Development

File:Sopor.jpg

An image of The Symbol of Jusa; as seen on all Sopor Aeternus' albums. It is the official symbol of Sopor Aeternus, all side projects related to Sopor Aeternus, and Anna-Varney Cantodea. http://www.sopor-aeternus.de/frame.html

Sopor Aeternus was born some time between 1987 and 1989 (the exact year is not known as it is a disputed topic at the moment). It was created by Anna-Varney Cantodea, and an elusive individual known only as, 'Holger'. The two had met at that time, in a goth club called, 'Negativ', which is located in Frankfurt, Germany. At that point in time, it is described in an interview with Anna, that she was experiencing a sort of sporadic outing with the 'human world', and that Holger became a sort of link for Anna-Varney to use to regain her ability to have connections with society (she was quite isolated at the time)... For unknown reasons, Holger decided to join Anna in materialising a sort of 'dream music' given to her in dreams by 'spiritual muses' that she at that time, and still to this day, pursued/pursues to create (it should be noted that such musical achievements are what Anna-Varney describes as, "keeping her alive to this day,"). Muses that Anna-Varney later refers/referred to as, The Ensemble of Shadows. [1]

Anna and Holger worked together with what little money they had, to purchase the needed accommodations for their music and created Blut der schwarzen Rose, or The Undead Trilogy; a triad of demo cassettes under the titles: Es reiten die Toten so schnell... (first and only released demo), Rufus (second demo), and Till Time and Times Are Done (third and last demo). Other than the 50 copies of Es reiten die Toten so schnell..., these were never released to the public; and shortly after their creation, Holger (for once again, unknown reasons) left Sopor. ^[12]

In 1994, after signing a contract with Apocalytic Vision, Anna-Varney produced her first album, Ich tote mich…. Much mystery hangs around the creation of this album, as sources and interviews are scarce in knowledge as to where Anna was at this point in her life, or how she gathered the financial needs for such a work of art.

In 1995, Anna worked on several musical projects. Possibly the most notable could be Todeswunsch - Sous le soleil de Saturne, an album which caused a divide amongst listeners due to it having a more renaissance-like sound than the previous album. 1995 would also be the year that Anna-Varney would release her first EP, Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh, which contained rereleases from the songs in Todeswunsch; and would also be the year that she formed the side project, White Onyx Elephants and recorded songs under that title. She recorded these songs for the compilation album, Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest.

Soon 1997 came, and Anna revealed two albums that she would later criticize in a somewhat self-dissatisfaction. The first of the two albums was The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller, which in 2000, Cantodea would refer to as her worst release yet. This is seen in a quote from an interview in the webzine, Utter Dark ^, when Anna is asked how she feels about her own musical progression:

Hmm... Well... Let's put it this way: "The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller," has been the worst album I have ever recorded... And after that... It slowly got better.
-Anna-Varney Cantodea (Circa 2000)

[2]

The second album, Voyager - The Jugglers of Jusa, was released as a remix album for The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller, containing a few extra tracks of its own. Anna-Varney exposed her despise of, "Voyager," within its section of liner notes in the boxed set, Like a Corpse standing in Desperation. Within can be seen a quote from Anna herself:

"... - oh dear. What good thing could I possibly say about this most horrible piece of crap?!"

She later expressed her wishes to re-record the album at a future point.

Discography

File:Annavarneyisbeautiful.jpg

An image of Anna-Varney, in 2003.

Demo Cassettes (Blut der schwarzen Rose, or the Undead-Trilogy) ^[13]

Es reiten die Toten so schnell... (1989) ^[14] - limited to 50 copies
Rufus (1992) ^[15]
Till Time and Times Are Done (1992) ^[16]

Albums and Eps

...Ich töte mich jedesmal aufs Neue, doch ich bin unsterblich, und ich erstehe wieder auf; in einer Vision des Untergangs... (1994 {Original Release} & 1999 {Re-release})
Todeswunsch - Sous le soleil de Saturne (1995 {Original Release} & 2003 {Re-release})
Ehjeh Ascher Ehjeh EP (1995) - limited to 3000 copies
The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller (1997)
Voyager - The Jugglers of Jusa (1997) - limited to 3000 copies
Dead Lovers' Sarabande (Face One) (1999)
Dead Lovers' Sarabande (Face Two) (1999)
Songs from the inverted Womb (2000)
Nenia C'alladhan (2002) - a side project with Constance Fröhling. The album is self-titled.
Es reiten die Toten so schnell (or: the Vampyre sucking at his own Vein) (2003)
La Chambre D'Echo - Where the dead Birds sing (2004)
Flowers in Formaldehyde EP (2004) - limited to 2000 copies.
The Goat / The Bells Have Stopped Ringing 12" vinyl (2005) - limited to 1000 copies
Like a Corpse standing in Desperation (2005) - re-release box set, limited to 3000 copies, including first-ever Sopor Aeternus DVD
Les Fleurs Du Mal (2007) - Original release limited to 2000 copies. Also known alternatively as Les Fleurs Du Mal - Die Blumen Des Bösen, a secondary name as seen on other releases of the album.

_{Note: "...Ich töte mich..." and "Todeswunsch" were repackaged and re-released in 1999; "Todeswunsch" was repackaged and re-released again in 2003.}

Compilation Albums

Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest (1995)^[17] - Limited to 3000 copies.^[18]

_{Note: Two of the four songs performed by Anna-Varney Cantodea on Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest, are recorded under the band title, "White Onyx Elephants," a side project of Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows. ^[19]}

Singles

In der Palästra - Released November 27, 2007 to Projekt Darkwave; released November 16, 2007 to Infrarot.de. Sopor's first single.

_{Note: Anna-Varney's merchandise is sold primarily online at/by, Infrarot.de and Projekt Darkwave (see External Links).}

Videography/Music Videos

Sopor Aeternus has had a small history of video recording. Anna-Varney tends to record somewhat blurred and transparent videos with purposely undetailed features; although there are exceptions such as the two videos of Deep the Eternal Forest, produced for the album of a similar name.

Year	Title	Appeared In/From...
1995	"Deep the Eternal Forest - 1" Watch	Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest
1995	"Deep the Eternal Forest - 2" Watch	Jekura - Deep the Eternal Forest
1999	"The Dog Burial" Watch	Dead Lovers' Sarabande (Face Two)
2000	"...And Bringer of Sadness" Watch	Songs From the Inverted Womb
2005	"The Goat" Watch	The Goat / The Bells Have Stopped Ringing
2005	"The Bells Have Stopped Ringing" Watch	The Goat / The Bells Have Stopped Ringing
2007	"In der Palästra" Watch	Les Fleurs du Mal (album)

External links

Official Website and Fansites

(Purchase) Albums and Merchandise by Anna-Varney Cantodea

References

[1] ttp://www.soporaeternus.it/eng/home.htm

[2] ttp://www.soporaeternus.it/eng/home.htm

[3] ttp://www.soporaeternus.de/

[4] ttp://www.discogs.com/label/Apocalyptic+Vision

[5] ttp://www.sopor-aeternus.de/frame.html

[6] ttp://www.soporaeternus.de/code/disco.html

[7] ttp://www.sopor-aeternus.de/frame.html

[8] ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Soporaeternusandtheensembleofshadowslogo1995.gif

[9] ttp://www.soporaeternus.it/eng/home.htm

[10] ttp://www.monas.nl/hear/intervsopor.htm

[11] ttp://www.sopor-aeternus.de/frame.html

[12] ttp://forum.sopor-aeternus.de/viewtopic.php?t=1427

[13] ttp://www.soporaeternus.ru/music.htm

[14] ttp://www.soporaeternus.ru/music.htm

[15] ttp://www.soporaeternus.ru/music.htm

[16] ttp://www.soporaeternus.ru/music.htm

[17] ttp://www.discogs.com/release/339766

[18] ttp://www.discogs.com/release/339766

[19] ttp://www.discogs.com/release/339766

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@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 ==Musical Style==
 Anna-Varney's medieval-influenced music is emotional and melancholic, using a number of different of [[brass instrument]]s, [[woodwinds]] (in particular, [[flutes]]), string quartets, [[violin]]s, [[pipe organ]]s, [[Bell (instrument)|bells]], and a variety of [[guitars]].  In some instances, [[synthesizers]] and [[drum machine]]s or real [[percussion instrument|percussion]] are used.  Anna-Varney has clearly stated that she creates her music about herself, solely for herself.  Various themes include [[death]], [[suicide]], unrequited [[love]], [[karma]]tic pain, loneliness and sadness, [[astrological]] references, [[dreams]] and [[mythological]] figures (the latter usually appearing in her earliest albums).
+[[Image:Image:3723.jpg]]
 A very important recurring theme is Cantodea's apparent [[Transsexualism]] and the idea of becoming or being a woman, including removal of the typically [[penis|male genitalia]] in favour of attaining the female variant (in later album artwork, Anna-Varney is usually shown nude with a [[vagina]] which has been edited in with photo-manipulation techniques). As well, much of Anna's earlier works deals with [[mysticism]] and [[spirituality]] (more specifically a sort of spiritual failure).  There are also several musical themes that reappear in her works; the most notable example is the song, "Birth - Fiendish Figuration," which has appeared in at least four forms on separate releases. Other songs contain similar melodic lines or lyrics from an earlier release.