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Meredith Monk – Ascent

 At first, I found this piece a bit disturbing. The woman chanting sounds like a shaman or a member of some sort of cult.  I did not really know what to make of it. But as it continued, I started to like it. When the male voices came in, it reminded me of Gregorian choral, or monks singing. Their voices harmonized well with the other female ones. The instruments in the background also go really well with it.

I liked the changes from chanting to just instruments and then singing in between. I am not sure if you can call that singing, as there were no words sung. But either way, the voices sound beautiful together. It feels like being in the midst of a huge choir and an orchestra.

The piece seems to build up and becomes gradually louder as more voices get added on. I’m guessing that is why Meredith Monk chose to name this piece “Ascent,” as it gets bigger, and thereby it feels a bit like climbing up stairs or a mountain.

Towards the end, the piece becomes quieter, and the instruments and voices are slowly taken away again. So I would describe this piece as a mountain, that you first climb up as it builds up, and later go down again.

At the very end, there is only one voice left, which sings the same pattern a few times, which sounds like an echo. That strengthens my mountain metaphor, as your voice echoes in the mountains sometimes.

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to this piece, and I was fascinated by the many voices in harmony. They sounded beautiful.
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