Through the Throat to the Ear
soundwalk
Traditional Albanian singing sounds like a goats’ choir interrupted by the solos of tawny owls. The rhythm of Mongolian songs resembles the beat of horses and Bulgarian singers have so-called “bells in the voice,” similar to the ones hanging on the necks of the sheep grazing in the vast pastures. One of the techniques musicians use when learning a song is vocal listening: They position their speech apparatus, imagining melodies or listening to them as if they were singing them. The embodiment of sounds is the primal impulse of music-making.
„Through the Throat to the Ear” is a soundwalk that uses vocal listening. As if you wanted to sing the audiosphere.
Concept: Aleksandra Kowalczyk
Premiere: 64 Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music
Recordings and composition: Jacek Szczepanek
Performance: Magdalena Barszcz, Alicja Czyczel, Gustaw Gliwiński, Aleksandra Kowalczyk, Krzysztof Marciniak, Izabela Smelczyńska
September 18, 2021, Stefan Żeromski Park in Warsaw