Skip to main content

Listening Report- Meredith Monk’s “Ascent”

 Always following my basic principle of judgement, that is my instinct and my feelings, I will analyze the song Ascent written by Meredith Monk, a brilliant composer who has dedicated her entire life to musical experimentation and the creation of sophisticated theatrical performances.

This track belongs to the album Songs of Ascension, released in 2011, which contains 21 songs that represent a sort of voyage towards the Ascension. The last song of this album is indeed called “Ascent” and stands for the end of a long journey towards light and a higher spirituality.

This composition, that belongs to the genre of Minimalism, presents itself as really complex and sophisticated in its apparent simplicity: the number of instruments involved is high and what is really interesting is the relationship between the music and the different voice tones, which present a contrast between high and low sounds. This song is tribal, it recalls something primitive and ancient; If I could associate an image with this song, I would associate a group of people dancing around a fire during a religious ritual. In my fantasy, everyone is engaged in this wild, free, Dionysian dance, in which the real essence of human being is set free and let go with the flow of life, trying to reach a higher state of existence, perception, self-awareness and peace. 

What I really love about this piece, which also characterizes Monk’s production, is that it is complete, a real “total work of art”: Meredith Monk is pure genius, because she always put together her ideas without leaving anything out in order to create a product that involves and moves all the senses of the audience, that cannot help but get excited.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops III

  The Disintegration Loops is a quartet of albums published in 2002 and 2003 by American avant-garde composer William Basinski. The pieces are made up of tape loop recordings that were played over time, with noise and crackles rising as the tape deteriorated. Basinski noticed this effect when attempting to convert his older recordings to digital format. The completion of the recordings coincided with the September 11, 2001 events, which Basinski witnessed and adds a deeper meaning to the composition. The composition is fascinating in many ways and makes the listener lose track of time. The tape loop recording had a very calming effect on me and put me in a trance-like state when I listened to it in its entirety. The tape loop is really soothing, so much so that I didn't even notice the loss of quality when I first listened to it. It makes you forget about time and allows you to really get into the piece capturing the calmness it exudes. You forget or don't really notice how i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pierre Schaeffer - Étude pathétique

  Pierre Schaefer begins the piece with sounds produced by drums and similar percussion instruments. One hears the sound of an object spinning and then coming to a stop. I assume it is a circular object, like a cymbal or hi-hat of a drum kit, that spins until it comes to a stop. Sounds of a locomotive follow, continuing with a mixture of drums and spinning objects as well as voices. There are slight parallels here with another piece by Schaeffer, "etude aux chemins de fer," in which he has the musical piece consist of sounds of trains and locomotives. I also recognize an accordion and a violin playing rapidly, accompanied by human sounds that are not really decipherable. By combining all these background sounds and using human voices, Schaeffer creates an exciting atmosphere while listening to the piece, and the listener's auditory senses are constantly challenged to decipher all the details of the sounds. At times one could be reminded of a scene from a scary movie, at l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pauline Oliveros – The Goddard in the Dan Harpole Cistern

  After watching Dan Harpole's film of Goddard in the Cistern, one is struck by how creepy the location appears and feels. In the light, you can just make out a lengthy ladder leading down into a concrete-walled area. It's absolutely dark, with only the top hatch and a small lamp providing lighting. This sequence accounts for a significant portion of the plot. Three persons are seen climbing up and down the ladder, which might be regarded the music piece's official start. Additionally, while the name "Dan Harpole Cistern" suggests a vast space, it appears to be a homemade video. A hum and other vocal noises travel across the room, bouncing off the walls. The women's voices generate a hum that contributes to the room's unique feel. The beautiful singing is interrupted by metal fragments falling on the floor. One would ask how much thought went into the sounds, given that the majority of them appear to be chosen at random. The emphasis is not on making sound...
Post a Comment
Read more