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Monk

Meredith Monk

“Songs of Ascension“

This piece feels similar to the interpretation of music by Pauline Oliveros. Meredith Monk is also playing with the acoustics of a building and elements of nature to create some sort of music. Monk also used howling sounds and short “ha“s, however she additionally used instruments that actually played a pleasant melody for a change. In contrast to Olivero’s performance, Monk’s piece of music sounded a lot more thought through. The instruments clearly played a composed melody and while the singers did not use actual words to sing, which was really weird in my opinion, they still sounded like the were following a concept. Also the use of water felt planned.

 As we listened to so many different composers trying out so many different concepts to revolutionize music, this piece by Monk felt like a relief. The idea was not as crazy and not as hurtful for the ear as others. Some elements of western music were clearly used as, for example, a recognizable melody! The acoustics and the type of sounds Monk chose sounded, again like Olivero’s, church like; here even a bit more.

            I did not quite understand what those wird dance moves should add to the music, to be honest. I thought maybe the movement of the body itself created sounds that add to the music? Or maybe this is Monk’s way of really feeling the sound? Anyways, I found it quite disturbing, but kinda funny. 

            I assume that when it comes to pieces of music like this, where the acoustics of a building or a certain place in nature play a significant role in completing the sound, it would be best to attend the experience physically. By recording and rewatching it and listening to it through an electronic device I guess a lot of quality gets lost. Also the feeling that is transported through the music must be better experienced when actually attending. When listening such music through electronic devices one views and listens to it with a certain distance, a physical and a mental distance. I would argue that joining the experiment or the creation of the music piece enables one to actually notice the quality of the sound and to deeply feel the emotions transported through it.

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