Octo: Soto Voce - York Minster (2009)
Octo: Sotto Voce is an 8-channel audio montage of eight whispered
voices. First performed in York Minster
in October 2009 as part of the event 'I Hear too -Live'.
Like the liturgy and the
choral, the whisper is a category of voice associated with religious space.The
whispered
prayer, the respectful tone or the irreverent aside are
characteristic of the hushed voice of private
conversations, of speech not
intended for public dissemination.
The 8-channels and their eight
voices are suggested by the distinctive octagonal design of the Chapter House.
The voices are recordings of improvisations on prepared texts based on writings
relating to York Minister.
This approach was inspired by grammelot, a mode of speech delivery and acting originally
developed by
Commedia dell' Arte troupes in the 16th century and popularised
in the 20th century by Italian playwright
Dario Fo. Grammelot was designed to convey the impression of existing
languages and voice patterns while
in effect not using the actual words nor the
grammar of any language. Here, ‘words’ loose semantic sense- they
are, in
practice, just sounds, although sounds that resonate with and suggest meanings
through performance,
context and tone.
Combined with the acoustics of
the Chapter House, this vocal piece is intended to offer a sonic experience
that encourages a search for meaning from material that is resistant to
clear-cut interpretation.In this way,
Octo: Sotto Voce also refers to religious writings of voices and
forms of speech that defy or transcend
literal meaning.
I
would like to thank Geraldine Allen, Jose Antonio Garcia, Peter Keighron, Bill
Lamdin, Judith Palmer,
Caroline Trettine and Valentina Vitali for their vocal
contribution to this piece.
For more Information about the work and the 'I Hear Too - Live'
event please go to: I Hear Too
Images by Kippa Matthews