the great learning

rebecca had tipped us off that she was singing in a choral piece at 'late at the tate' on friday, and that the 'music' was more like a set of instructions. but the results were rather beautiful:

CoMA Voices perform 'The Great Learning: Paragraph 7', 1969 by Cornelius Cardew at Tate Britain. from steve collins on Vimeo.

the instructions in the performers' hands tell them to sing a word or short phrase a given number of times on one note, then the next phrase on a different note that is already being sung by someone else - that is why they move about between phrases, to listen for another note. The entire piece lasts for at least a quarter of an hour - in fact the length and the sound will vary with each performance. i wonder if we could try something similar with a congregation, instead of the usual hymns. the issue would be dealing with those who can't hold a note...

[rebecca's in the maroon top, left background, hair tied back]

Comments

[cloudburst]

sounds beautiful!

i was amused that the beret-at-art-gallery stereotype had been fulfilled in the first 5 seconds, perhaps this individual is merely an employee of the tate, to fulfill international art gallery requirements for snootiness..

;)