Museum Musica

USA, 1981, modern classical / chamber music / post-minimalism

Meredith Monk – Dolmen Music: This is like someone’s strangling a cat, except that the strangler is really good at strangling cats, and the cat is really good at getting strangled. Sing from the back of the throat, sing from the jowls, sing through the nose. The repetitive piano phrasings are just there to maintain the song structure while Monk sings notes as short as she can, sings notes as long as she can. The vocals express manic delight and ponderous sorrow, and it’s done mostly without words. There comes later a flirtation with male choral vocals and droning cellos, all there to showcase Monk’s fey vocals.