Skip to main content

Meredith Monk - Gotham Lullaby

 

The following report speech is about Meredith Monk’s song and performance “Gotham Lullaby“. The first part will describe the song, its’ tones and melody, and Monk’s use of sub-phrases. Afterward, I will report how I personally felt while listening to “Gotham Lullaby“.

The song and Monk’s singing of sub-phrases are accompanied by piano, played by herself. “Gotham Lullaby“ is split into three shorter sub phrases, in which she sings mainly lutes as the following: “: [wah lah so]  [wah lah lah ley lah lah lah seh na na seh]  [wah la la – , la la la la]“. The song is four minutes and 33 seconds long. Monk’s song can be described as harmonious, smooth, and regular. This harmony and the regular pattern of the song is interrupted twice from minute 1.47 to 1.53 and 2.21 to 2.38 by Meredith Monk giving high-pitched and moaning tones forth. Nevertheless, the overall pattern of phrasing and the melody of “Gotham Lullaby“ remains constant. In fact, Meredith Monk is known for her use of syllables and sounds instead of using real words and sentences. Hence, Monk singing syllables and tones give the impression of her inventing a new language with which she can express her emotions, intimate thoughts, and feelings; it seems as if the fully formed English language or other languages are not enough to express herself. Furthermore, the pattern of the piano playing remains constantly the same and the the chords and notes do not demonstrate a diverse variation. Overall, the song’s pitch consists of higher tones.

Monk’s “Gotham Lullaby“ reminded me of a traditional folksong. Monk’s use of syllables and tones creates the impression of strategy and coincidence at the same time; it seems as if Monk exactly knows what to sing and which pitches to use and concurrently sings intuitively from a gut feeling. In addition to that, as the title of the song “Gotham Lullaby“ shows, the song reminds me of a lullaby. Lullabies in general reawaken well-being, harmonious, positive, familiar, and homey feelings, and impressions. Besides, the tone of humming has a further calming and comforting impact on the listener. Monk ends her song by fading away her piano playing which does not create an impression of imperfection and incompleteness.

From my point of view, “Gotham Lullaby“ is a calming song full of emotions. Although Meredith Monk does not use a real language, but only syllables, and tones, her emotions, thoughts and feelings are clearly communicated throughout her ordinary music. Overall, music is an instrument to communicate, share and express thoughts and feelings. However, I liked how she still conveys her idea of music and feelings by only using sub-phrases.

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