ECM50 | 1981 Meredith Monk, "Dolmen Music"

Interview with Meredith Monk filmed in Manhattan, New York City, NY, October 2019 Special Thanks to Kirstin Kapustik ________ "Gotham Lullaby", "The Tale" and "Dolmen Music" released on the album "Dolmen Music" (ECM 1197) Release date: 01.06.1981 Meredith Monk: voice, piano Collin Walcott: percussion, violin Steve Lockwood: piano Andrea Goodman, Monika Solem, Paul Langland: voice Robert Een: voice, cello Julius Eastman: percussion, voice Recorded March 1980 at Hometown Studios, New York City Engineer: Martin Balk and January 1981 at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg Engineer: Martin Wieland Produced by Manfred Eicher and Collin Walcott ℗ 1981 ECM Records GmbH "Do You Be" written and performed by Meredith Monk Released on the album "Do You Be" (ECM New Series ‎1336), 1987 Live recordings: "Gotham Lullaby": Lensic Center for the Performing Arts, Santa Fe, NM, 2004 "Dolmen Music", "Do You Be": Almeida Theatre, Islington, London, 1982, filmed by Peter Greenaway (Four American Composers) © 1983 Trans Atlantic Films / Channel Four Television "The Tale": Le Poisson Rouge, New York City, 2018 "Gotham Lullaby": World Festival of Sacred Music, Los Angeles, 1999 "clusters 2" from "Songs Of Ascension" (ECM New Series 2154) Performed by Montclair University Singers, The M6 and John Hollenbeck All compositions © Meredith Monk (ASCAP) ________ Film excerpts from "Book of Days" (1988) Conceived, Composed and Directed by Meredith Monk Cinematography by Jerry Pantzer Art Direction and Costume Design by Yoshio Yabara Produced by Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur © Meredith Monk Album released on ECM Records, 1990 ________ "clusters 2" from "Songs Of Ascension" (ECM New Series 2154) Performed by Montclair University Singers, The M6 and John Hollenbeck Recorded November 2009, Academy of Arts and Letters, New York Recording Engineers: James Farber, Paul Zinman Mixed at Avatar Studios, New York, by James Farber, Manfred Eicher and Meredith Monk Produced by Manfred Eicher ℗ © 2011 ECM Records GmbH © 2009 Meredith Monk Music Written in 2008, “Songs of Ascension” is conceived as a continuous composition, a departure from Monk’s earlier collaged or episodic extended works. In recent years Meredith Monk’s been expanding into the worlds of orchestra and string quartet. On “Songs of Ascension” she teams up with a string quartet of New York players well versed in new music. With winds, percussion and two vocal groups added to her already extraordinary singers, this is one of Monk’s most musically ambitious ventures. Voices and instruments are paired and balanced against each other to an extent rare in her music. Inspirations for the work included the Song of Ascents, a group of psalms said to have been sung during pilgrimages, and a timely invitation to perform at an 8-story tower designed by visual artist Ann Hamilton. “Songs of Ascension” finds Monk playing with the musical, sonic, metaphysical and literal connotations of upward movement. “If Monk is seeking a place in the classical firmament, classical music has much to learn from her.” - Alex Ross, The New Yorker