Meredith Monk & Robert Een - Facing North [ECM New Series 1482]

General synopsis
Composed while working on the Atlas opera, "Facing North" was composed at the Leighton Artist's Colony in Banff, Alberta, and inspired by the sights and sounds of rural Canada in the winter months. The "Northern Lights" movements are atmospheric and gentle, while "Arctic Bar" represents the sounds of humanity congregating in a warm tavern – dissonant, happy, and uncomfortable. "Keeping Warm" is an agitated staccato-punctuated vocal pattern that instills the mind with the notion of resorting to movement to keep one's self warm. This is a multi-faceted view of "north" as a state of mind – what Monk calls "the awareness of the fragility of human life in relation to the forces of nature and in turn the vulnerability of nature itself to the indifference of human beings." Two other pieces are included on this release: the dramatic "Vessel: An Opera Epic" (a composition from 1971 based loosely on the life of Joan of Arc) and "Boat Song" (a movement from Monk's 1979 "Recent Ruins" composition). "Vessel" is an emotional piece; the "Fire Dance" movement is very slow and passionate with drones and throat singing, and the "Epic" portion is very shrill and agitated. "Boat Song" is short and esoteric; it leaves the listener wishing there were more of the whole piece included on this recording

Meredith Monk: voice, piano, organ, pitch pipe
Robert Een: voice, pitch pipe
Recorded April 1992
ECM New Series 1482


Tracklist

01. Facing North: Northern Lights 1
02. Facing North: Chinook
03. Facing North: Long Shadows 1
04. Facing North: Keeping Warm
05. Facing North: Northern Lights 2
06. Facing North: Chinook Whispers
07. Facing North: Arctic Bar
08. Facing North: Hocket
09. Facing North: Long Shadows 2
10. Vessel: An Opera Epic: Epic
11. Vessel: An Opera Epic: Fire Dance
12. Vessel: An Opera Epic: Little Epiphany - Sybil Song
13. Vessel: An Opera Epic: Mill
14. Recent Ruins: Boat Song