Songs of Psyche
“Presenting …..s093nfs!d7u (singer to be confirmed) as the oracular voice of Psyche herself, this event is a milestone in the Inner Voices’ history. Making use of cutting edge new technologies, the performers record music ‘in-flight’, as it were, creating vast and rich multi-layered tapestries of sound, three and four-part vocal ‘motets’ for the solo singer, and symphonies of ambient groove, in which they give voice to their own individual energy through improvisation. “Is it an opera?… Is it an ambient groove-based oracle?… No, it is just simple and expressive music in a language that even a 21st Century psyche can understand and move to…be there or be square!!”
(excerpt from publicity material/program notes)
Call it ‘the law of cause and effect’ (if you are a Buddhist), or maybe the domino effect (if you like to play dominoes): -the sound engineer was running late (they couldn’t find the key to get the equipment out of storage), then the officialdom at the venue wouldn’t let him park the truck when he did arrive; -consequently the set-up took hours longer than estimated, so the tech-run didn’t eventuate, therefore the sound (and on-stage fold-back) wasn’t mixed right, so we, as performers weren’t as relaxed and confident as we could have been, and then, when Michelle’s microphone and looping device didn’t work …. ‘one thing lead to another’, (some of which were moments of on-stage, frozen horror, others were amazing experiences, dream-like flows of totally inspired abandon as we just let go and improvised) …. and here I am now, with tales of “what could have been”, and “if only”, and…. and……
For the sake of brevity, and this is not the time for a socio-anthropological rave (well, not a full-on, frothing at the mouth, spurned and frustrated artist-type rave!!) about the state of Australian culture, either in general or specifically in relation to the arts, so I wont go into too much detail into broader dimensions of the intricate weave of cause and effect we experienced/witnessed that night; such as funding issues, (and the way they impact on attempts to develop and realise a complex idea/vision) or the many logistical and technological challenges (working with two looping devices, which allow the performers to create layer upon layer of sound), or the difficulties of shifting between the reading/performance of a complex score, and then jumping into free improvisation, and then back again, many times…. Just finding the right musicians was hard enough (the line-up in the Inner Voices was brilliant) but being able to fund the time and resources to adequately rehearse was another thing altogether …. so close, and yet so far.
“If an Elektra concert can sometimes seem like a work in progress, this is not implicitly a criticism. Crivici is working towards something that is his own, and the players (and technology) around him can be a step (and a rehearsal) behind in having complete confidence to realise what is required of them.”
(The Goddess Returns, Sydney Opera House, 2001
-John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald)
But, the passage of time allows me, in fact requires of me, to see that ultimately the buck has to stop with me, or, as Phil (the percussionist) kindly, and wisely said to me earlier tonight, as we reviewed and processed the gig, “hey, in the end, were all on a learning curve”. I know, I know, these may not be the sort of things one should say in public, (“stay on message”, “always sell the positive”, “don’t dwell on the negative …in public”, etc) but, in spite of it all, (and it is a testament to the creativity, and till that night, the possibly unknown depths and resources within the psyches of the performers themselves) that there were some really wonderful moments, which have encouraged me to revise and rework Songs of Psyche, and to have started the process towards its recording and performance. (All donations gladly accepted, but please, preferably in large multiples of $100 bills, neatly folded, in a brown paper bag placed under the post-box on Illawarra Rd, Marrickville!!).
Musicians: Vocals; -Michele Morgan, violin; -Michelle Kelly, Electric stick-viola; -Rudolf Crivici, keyboards; Romano Crivici, bass; -Alex Henery, percussion and vibes; -Philip South.
The individual movements of the work are as follow:
- Split Point -allegro thrash/groove and chorale
- In the beginning -quasi-recitative and groove
- Wind and Sky -three part motet (solo voice and loop) and song
- Mental Murmurs -paranoia, lament and groove
- Post Modernity -recitative and allegro
- *** N.B. legal obligations -disclaimer and “tempo de sleaze”
- Dreams and Visions -three-part vocal motet (solo voice and loop) and song
- You know I know -adagio and song (poco allegro)
- Giving (postscript) -adagio, and molto adagio
Why the Inner Voices? At times working in a string quartet format, with guest artists (particularly improvisers) became too complex and limiting, and Rudi and I found it easier to experiment and be more fluid (and it certainly made rehearsals a lot easier). Over time it became a simple way of defining any combination that wasn’t quite quartet based. Over time we found it to be our format (particularly sax, electric viola, didjeridu, keyboards and percussion) of choice, and we morphed into the Inner Voices.
A short excerpt from an improvisation at an Elektra String Quartet concert, where we relaxed a little, and took time-out from playing already composed music. Featuring Blair Greenberg, (electronic/tuned percussion) Mark Atkins (didjeridu), and the brothers Crivici on violin and viola and looping device.
Performance projects Crivici has devised, directed and composed for Inner Voices include:
- Blurring the Boundaries (concert series I and II, 1995)
- Bone flute project* (strings, sax, Javanese percussion and multimedia, 1996)
- Bio-Luminescence (sax, electric violin and viola with loop, and didjeridu, 1997)
- Songs of Psyche (voice(s) [Alto with looping device], violin, viola, keyboards, bass and percussion -2004)
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