Glossolalia
voice, four loudspeakers, three bowls, electronics, and modified dreamachine
"Every limb of my body would, as a result, be set a fire. At such moments my tongue recited what no man could bear to hear."
Working with texts of ecstatic experience from twelve religions translated into three separate languages, with twelve languages in total used amongst all the texts, a vocalist performs from these translations along with a variety of isolated speech sounds (glottal fricatives, plosives, alveolar trills, etc.). The performance progresses toward more complex passages of utterance creating a simulacrum for speaking in tongues. Electronic sound accompanies the performance and uses live processing of the voice and recordings made with twelve different woman. The audio is played from loudspeakers surrounding the performer. The work ends with a modified Brion Gysin Dreamachine that uses noise from a phonograph needle rubbing against the empty plate of a record player sent to a small loudspeaker covered by three bowls, which the vocalist slowly removes.
Performed by/with Marie Guilleray.
[audio on Audition Records] [score]