MONK, MEREDITH - Key

"Originally released in 1971. Key contains Meredith Monk's earliest compositions for voice. The songs that make up Key were composed and performed in a three year period between 1967 and 1970, when Monk collected them into this 45-minute "invisible theater" experience. Meredith Monk on the release: "In Key I wanted to create a constantly shifting ambience. Each song dealt with a different vocal character, landscape, technical concern or emotional quality. I was trying for a visceral, kinetic song form that had the abstract qualities of a painting or a dance. I knew that I didn't want to set music to a text; for me, the voice itself was a language which seemed to speak more eloquently than words. I chose certain phonemes for their particular sound qualities. In a sense, each song became a world in itself with its own timbre, texture and impulse." Personnel: Meredith Monk - voice, organ, jews harp; Daniel Ira Sverdlik, Dick Higgins, Collin Walcott, Lanny Harrison, Mark Monstermaker - voices." - Lovely Music.