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Editorial Reviews
Review
"If Monk is seeking a place in the classical firmament, classical music has much to learn from her. She may even loom larger as the new century unfolds, and later generations will envy those who got to see her live." -- Alex Ross, The New Yorker
Product Description
Songs of Ascension is a long-awaited, major new recording from composer Meredith Monk and her vocal ensemble. It is one of Monk's most musically ambitious ventures, with winds, percussion and two vocal groups now added to her already extraordinary singers. Voices and instruments are paired and balanced against each other to an extent rare in her music, and the result is haunting. Songs of Ascension, written in 2008, is conceived as a continuous composition, a departure from Monk's earlier collaged or episodic extended works, and has been played live to audiences internationally and received the very highest acclaim. It is a work that refocuses perceptions of what music theatre can achieve. As Mark Swed in the Los Angeles Times noted "Songs of Ascension is a major Monk work. The music is glorious. Monk's most significant growth over the past decade or two has been as a composer. She is a great master of utterance ... a listener feels somehow in communication with another, perhaps wiser, species."
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.
The album was recorded at New York's Academy of Arts and Letters, and produced by Manfred Eicher. The CD booklet includes detailed liner notes by composer/author Kyle Gann, and beautiful cover photography inside and outside the CD booklet featuring scenes from the piece.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I'm fascinated by artists who continue to grow and evolve throughout their careers. This new music by Meredith Monk is the best I've heard from her. She's simply continuing to get better as a composer and orchestrator. Pieces begin with simple cells of material, but instead of repeating them in static blocks as Philip Glass or Steve Reich might do, the cells are soon joined by other sounds, motives, textures--and the cells themselves evolve though tone color changes of added or varied voices and instruments. Imagine theme with additive variation. But this is just about the technique.
The music lives up to its title. As I sit here on a perfect summer afternoon with a slightly cool breeze coming in through the window, the dogs resting, and this music playing, I'm at peace. This music is uplifting in a new and unconventional way. There are no words but Monk communicates a sense of the world being all right just the way it is, that in the end, we will all be okay. There's a cumulative sense of movement, of upward rising.
The music lives up to its title. As I sit here on a perfect summer afternoon with a slightly cool breeze coming in through the window, the dogs resting, and this music playing, I'm at peace. This music is uplifting in a new and unconventional way. There are no words but Monk communicates a sense of the world being all right just the way it is, that in the end, we will all be okay. There's a cumulative sense of movement, of upward rising.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By David
Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am a dilettante when it comes to the work of Meredith Monk, and this was a great introduction to her work! I heard excerpts of this on her interview on National Public Radio's "On Being" and had to hear the rest of it. The performances here are energetic and dynamic, exploring the full range of emotion and technical capability. Monk draws from a diverse sound palette including mixed chorus, two vocal groups to augment her own ensemble; string quartet, percussion, wind instruments and portative organ. The result is a stunning composition that is as stirring as it is contemplative; joyful as it is somber; ecstatic as it is tranquil.
By M. L. Casey
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am in the process of discovering the very modern sounding music of Meredith Monk whom, I have heard, has been on the New York scene as a composer since the 1960s. Being an appreciator of Handel, J. S. Bach, and Mozart it came as a surprise to me that Ms. Monk's style of composition could also be so intriguing, beautiful, and accessible. This piece was being played one wintery evening on my local classical radio station and it caught my ear with an immediacy which produced a sense of mystery, spirituality, and peace. Her vocalizations and use of musical instruments are magical. I wish to listen to Songs of Ascension often - whenever it is travel to a "celestial realm" that I seek.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Thought I would like with checks of samples of music, but found just not my style, so would pass on further albums
