Angel-like “Language”

 

I really enjoyed watching the video about Meredith Monk (20.11.1942 - ) and her music and art. Right at the beginning of the video, I noticed that Monk has a very petite stature, thus, I would not have thought that she has both an angelic and at the same time also a very powerful voice. In the video, she explained that she creates her art in an apartment in New York and lives there at the same time. When I saw the bed in the middle of the studio I was quite intrigued as her studio and at the same time living space looked like that of a brilliant professor. In general, Monk left an endearing impression on me, which made me want to hear her music even more. In her piece “16 Millimeter Earrings” she used her voice like a musical instrument without actually using any language at all which was fascinating to hear. Even if many of the sounds were sometimes strange, they reminded me of the so-called “throat singing” of the Inuk which I once listened to in school. I found it really interesting to hear what our human voice is capable of. It does not always have to be incredibly high tones like Mariah Carey´s, but also those that make you doubt that certain tones come from a human being. While watching Monk perform it reminded me somehow of Michael Winslow from Police Academy. While I was watching Winslow perform I was often not even sure whether the noises that he made were real or for example from a real car; but of course, it was real, he always used his own voice.

Now back to Monk: I really liked the following sentence that she mentioned in the video: “Art can melt walls, not create them”. I think this point of view is a very positive and hopeful one. Art and especially music bring people closer to one another and dissolve barriers. It does not even matter which country the music comes from (not even a specific language has to be used). However, what is important is that it has to touch the heart and thus pave the way to a more tolerant world. Monk also stated in the video that she starts her music without judgments and that she just lets herself be carried away while creating a new piece. Each new piece is a world for her that was created by her. I found this viewpoint very fascinating. Important to mention here is also the example of the Bulgarian folk singers that was shown where I, again, realized that we do not really need instruments to create music, but that our voice is an instrument in itself. However, in “Gotham Lullaby” Monk uses an instrument, namely, the piano. At first, I really enjoyed listening to the piece. It was a very hopeful and soothing sound while she used her voice without actually using language. Moreover, she used her voice to hum which I found relaxing at the beginning but in the middle of the piece, the sounds changed and were too loud and high-pitched which I did not enjoy. However, all in all, I really liked Monk´s “Gotham Lullaby” which reminded me of something angelic.