Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble Of Shadows (often referred to as the simplified, "
Sopor Aeternus", (literally, "Eternal Sleep", a term meaning, "The Sleep of Death" or even "Sopor") is a Darkwave musical project founded by and consisting solely of the German musician,
Anna-Varney Cantodea. It was formed some time in 1989.
Introduction, Namesake & GenderDespite years of good (though not well-known) media attention (such as her interviews published in Orkus Magazine), not much is known about this shadowy entity...- Cantodea. She (
Anna-Varney) tends not to talk about her own 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 "two-spirited", a "warrior of the neutral zone" ["neutral" in this case meaning: "between sexes"], or simply a "transsexual" [more specifically a pre-operative transwoman]. Cantodea prefers to be known as a "she", instead of a "he", and states that she does not seek to surgically alter her body due to reasons of, as she refers to it, "spiritual conflict." In 1997 she took the name
Anna-Varney Cantodea to reflect this (before that time she simply referred to herself as "Varney"). Her decision to alter this pseudonym was based on several factors: "Anna" was a typically feminine name, the already established 'Varney' stemmed from the horror story, "
Varney the Vampire, or The Feast Of Blood", and Cantodea had been a form of the Latin word for, "female singer"... When asked about the nature of her name, specifically though, in one interview Anna interjected:
I am simply Anna-Varney ... also known as: "(S)he with the S in brackets", ha! Well, the old question: are you a woman or a man? To which the answer is: yes, of course!Life & The EnsembleAnna has said in several interviews that she spent nearly three decades of her life in extreme states of depression, despair and loneliness. These emotions were reportedly brought on by a number of experiences, the most prominent of which could have been the frequent beatings she suffered to both the hands of her parents and peers in school. At the age of six she was subject to childhood trauma when having an
out-of-body experience whilst under sedation due to a surgical operation. This procedure involved the removal of her adenoids and a great amount of self-ridicule and humiliation. By twelve,
Anna had started becoming suicidal and in her adulthood had a sort of (or may have come close to) cancer or a cancer-like ailment. This, or some other illness almost caused her to go blind (an issue she heavily deals with in The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller). She nearly escaped this loss of eyesight.
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 phrase Sopor is closely tied in with
Anna-Varney's creations, as the word itself refers to "sleep" in Latin.
Anna-Varney seems to be voluntarily isolated, as she has spoken of fear, disgust, or sadness when in the presence of most individuals, 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).
InstrumentationAnna-Varney's renaissance and baroque influenced music is emotional and often considered extremely melancholic, using a number of different of brass instruments, woodwinds (in particular, flutes), string quartets, violins, pipe organs, bells, and guitars. In some instances, synthesizers and drum machines or real percussion is used. Specific releases can be noted for their use of certain instruments or groups of them, as well.
The contrast of certain songs can be wild and energetic or slow-paced and woefull, with tempo ranging dramatically in either an individual track or whole album.
Concerning her albums, though, each is noticeably distinguished from any other (instrumentally as well as vocal-wise), with (as it has been said) musical styles and forms which can be considered renaissance, baroque, electronic, ambient, neoclassical, medieval, gothic, avante-garde, or even intercultural.
Themes & ConceptsAnna-Varney has clearly stated that she creates her music about herself, solely for herself. Major themes include death (perhaps the most primary), suicide, unrequited love, karmatic pain, loneliness, sadness, existential angst or nihilistic outlook and spirituality (more specifically a sort of spiritual failure). Minor themes include astrological references, dreams, mythological figures, and the undead. More recently, she has featured concepts on occultism (primarily in the album "
La Chambre D'Echo") and sexuality accompanied by romance – a new affection which seems to follow the lament of a dead lover.
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 or astral projection of sorts. 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.
GenreWhen asked about the specific genre of her music,
Anna-Varney says that she does not follow a specific style of music and that she simply creates, "...-music for dead children [and otherwise wounded souls], that is all." Despite this statement, many fans consider Sopor a Darkwave project, and one in the most unique of forms.
