Considered one of the most unique and influential artists of our time, meredith monk has been a pioneer of interdisciplinary work for over 50 years. Meredith jane monk born november 20, 1942 is an american composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. There are hints of nicos janitor of lunacy and meredith monk s book of days at play, where the icy screeches and distortions give way to the wax and wane poetry of a short confession. Meredith monk american performance artist britannica. Screenings will include 16 millimeter earrings 1966, book of days 1988, ellis island 1981, turtle dreams 1983, paris 1982, and several of monk s short silent films 19661994.
The overall power of plain songs hinges on the strength of the voice and the way it interacts with the sound world around it, venerosa demonstrating an. Shop for vinyl, cds and more from meredith monk at the discogs marketplace. Instead of vocals, she begins this album differently, with the todd reynolds string quartet. This album has a similar theme of a spiritual journey, with its peaks and valleys, attainments and losses, joys and sighs, over the seasons. The idea for book of days came to monk one afternoon in the summer of 1984, when she was overcome by a blackandwhite vision of a young jewish girl in a medieval street. Johanna arnold alto, joan barber voice, andrea goodman voice, naaz hosseini voice, meredith monk voice, robert een voice, john eppler voice, ching gonzales voice, wayne hankin voice, nicky paraiso voice, timothy sawyer voice, nurit tilles keyboard, toby newman voice. The voice is a language, a world of continuing discoveries. This same figure would become the locus for much of the films traumatic crossfire, amid which the girl has visions of her own, only for her they are of a grave and violent. Book of days is a production of tatgelasseur productions, inc. Visionary artist meredith monk has been called a magician of the voice new york times and one of americas coolest composers time out new york. In her pieces, the plague of the middle ages is seen as the precursor of aids, while st.
In 1964, she graduated from sarah lawrence college and in 1968 she founded the house, a company dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach to performance. My favorite monk cd is book of days, also transplanting us to some imaginary past. Meredith monk is primarily known for her vocal innovations, including a wide range of extended techniques, which she first developed in her solo performances before forming her own ensemble. The meredith monk archive was donated to the new york public library for the performing arts in 2006 by meredith monk.
Meredith monk and vocal ensemble music from meredith monk s film of the same title. Meredith monk, renown for her carefully crafted maverick vocalise, wrote a mystical opera, atlas, her magic flute. Meredith monk and robert een hocket, from facing north. The girls dreams and her grandfather the book of days by meredith monk duration. Since the 1960s, monk has created multidisciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ecm records. Find meredith monk discography, albums and singles on allmusic. November 20, 1942, new york, ny us composer, performer and director.
The first time i encountered the music of meredith monk was in her fascinating, indeed haunting film book of days from 1988 that was shown on pbs. Ecm new series ecm 99,ecm new series 839 6241 format. Meredith monk was born on november 20, 1942 in new york city, new york, usa. Double edge recorded monk s phantom waltz back in 1992, and ive always wondered if there was more from where that came from. Composed as the score to a film of her own making, her 1990 album book of days further develops the laserlike focus of earlier albums, such as dolmen music, turtle dreams, and do you be. I had the pleasure of seeing the film purely by happenstance a few years after it came out and the sense of quiet and calm, intruded on by intimations of madness and foreshadowings of pestilence, is haunting and made a lasting impression on me. Meredith jane monk is an american composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. In 1991, monk composed an opera called atlas, commissioned and produced by the houston opera and the american music. The official top 40 bestselling vinyl albums and singles of 2020 so far. American composer meredith monk told me that she wasnt annoyed with the coen brothers for using her walking song as the musical. Meredith monk albums, songs discography album of the year. It deals with a community of jews and christians in the middle ages in time of plague, where the young daughter of a jewish family has visions of 20thcentury technology and society, drawing them on. Meredith monk the american performing artist meredith monk born has earned renown as a composer, singer, dancer, choreographer, filmmaker and critic.
A guide to meredith monks music music the guardian. An innovator in mixedmedia forms, meredith monk uses music, dance, drama, and film in theater pieces that may move between ancient times and modern, between exotic fantasy and everyday reality. In book of days, to be shown tonight at 10 on channel as part of the alive from off center series, she has created a film that is. The composer, vocalist, dancer, choreographer, director and filmmaker meredith monk celebrates the anniversary of the start of her professional career. Processing information the collection was processed and cataloged in 20062007. Meredith monk biography, albums, streaming links allmusic.
This edition is limited to 700 lps on green vinyl, including a 4page booklet and an obistrip. This magical and spiritual universe, created with f. American maverick tradition being, of course, her own term. Meredith monk s american maverick tradition continues with her latest release off ecm new series, volcano songs. With music streaming on deezer you can discover more than 56 million tracks, create your own playlists, and share your favourite tracks with your friends.
She uses her voice to sing, moan, yodel, squeal, whisper and gurgle, at the same time conjuring up a panoply of characters, from elderly women and precocious children to shrieking ghosts and chanting priests. Digital recording, june 1989, clinton studios, new york. Her singular style, prolific work, and longstanding success defined her as at once a pioneer and an institution in the relatively new world of performance art. Monk s featurelength film book of days 1989 played at the new york film festival, and a shorter version aired on television. Both of these are extremely strong cuts and worth listening to. Related collections the papers of meredith monk s mother, the singer audrey marsh, are held by the music division, jpb 0676. Listen free to meredith monk book of days early morning melody, travellers 1, 2, 3 and more. Book of days art direction yoshio yabara cinematographer jerry pantzer creative director, music by meredith monk film producer catherine tatge, dominique lasseur.
November 20, 1942, new york city is a composer, singer, directorchoreographer and creator of new opera, musictheater works, films and installations. What we have here on disc is only part of the artwork meredith monk created with her halflength film book of days. Meredith monk does just about everything a voice can do other than sing normal notes though she does that too, a little bit over a mostly minimalisttype of backdrop, mostly pianos, but sometimes percussion and other drone instruments. Find meredith monk discography, albums and singles on allmusic allmusic. Recognized as one of the most unique and influential artists of our time, she is a pioneer in what is now called extended vocal technique and interdisciplinary.
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