Prof. Dr. Herzogenrath
The Future of Avantgarde-Music
Blaha, Malte C.
Matrikelnummer 7509502
Listening report –
Meredith Monk
For me, the music of Meredith
Monk creates a musical world itself, instead of creating a “musical song”. It
sounds like a world to immerse yourself in. Monk’s music stands for the idea of
making use of the human voice as an instrument itself, instead of portraying
voice-like instruments. As there is no instrument that can trigger emotions so
easily and so all-surrounding like the human voice, she seems to make use of it
as an universal instrument. The difference is that this instrument – the human
voice- has the ability to trigger the same vibe and the same emotions to any
listener. It appears, as if Monk figures out what notes a musical world exactly
needs and then adds them in favor to this very unique world.
Further, Monk plays rhythmical
with the use of canon. She modulates the voice, topples or breaks it. While the
human voice can also illustrate order, Monk uses the variety of the human voice
to also create disorder. It is also outstanding how Monk’s Lullaby Live can trigger emotions and sounds like an emotional
story, without any use of any real wording. At certain times, it seems as if
the singers were not in control of their voice, which in turn, displays just
how much they are in control of the expression of their voice. There are
powerful sounds, mixed with melodic background tones; the voice as a piece of
expression, as a powerful tool, that has the ability to tell the story without
the need for any real words. A story that is thought and told through the power
of voice.
In addition, Monk kind of shows
how the voice in general works. This is done through the multiple musical works
of her, while most seem in perfect control, providing an atmosphere, they can
also very well trigger disturbing and fearful sounds. This is necessary to the
extent, that Monk wants to illustrate all possible musical worlds that the
human voice might hide. The idea is: we ourselves are capable of creating the
atmosphere that we want to deliver.
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