Meredith monk is a composer, singer, directorchoreographer and creator of new opera, musictheater works, films and installations. In book of days, to be shown tonight at 10 on channel as part of the alive from off center series, she has created a film that is. Her compositons are mainly soft piano with voice taking the center stage, her music is like a sunrise or sunset or that look in the eye, unforgetable. It deals with a community of jews and christians in the middle ages in time of plague, where the young daughter of a jewish family has visions of 20thcentury technology and society, drawing them on walls. Its a shame meredith monk never directed any other films. Find meredith monk discography, albums and singles on allmusic. A free screening of two meredith monk films, ellis island 1985 and book of days 1988.
Meredith monk american performance artist britannica. I use center in the largest sense of the word, because i feel that when i do a theater piece now, im an orchestrator of music and image and movement, meredith monk explained to opera america in october of 1984. An innovator in mixedmedia forms, meredith monk uses music, dance, drama, and film in theater pieces that may move between ancient times and modern, between exotic fantasy and everyday reality. Meredith monk is a highly original artist and her untraditional vision of an opera comes through very clearly. Alive from off center television program responsibility. Monk has made more than a dozen recordings on the ecm label, including the 2008 grammynominated impermanence. Meredith monk archive, lpa mss 2006001, the new york public library for the performing arts. Ellis island and book of days monday, november 6, 2017 at 7.
Like most of meredith monk s performance works, book of days weaves together characters, music, movement, time and space. At the end of book of days the workmen enter the town and come across the drawings traced into a wall. Though largely and perhaps primarily a musician, monk combines sound with choreography, image, and object, creating an art that defies category. Meredith monk biography, albums, streaming links allmusic. For video in on behalf of nature, monk used elements of footage from her 1998 film book of days, recutting and adding new imagery. Meredith monk is a pioneer who tells stories about pioneers. In her pieces, the plague of the middle ages is seen as the precursor of aids, while st. The center is the voice, and the center is the music.
In 1968, monk founded the house, a company dedicated to interdisciplinary performance, and, in 1978, she formed the meredith monk and vocal ensemble to perform her unique vocal compositions. Since the 1960s, monk has created multidisciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ecm records. Book of days is a production of tatgelasseur productions, inc. In book of days, to be shown tonight at 10 on channel as part of the alive from off center. The first time i encountered the music of meredith monk was in her fascinating, indeed haunting film book of days from 1988 that was shown on pbs. Join us for a day with iconic composer, singer, directorchoreographer and filmmaker, meredith monk. Monk said she also revisited old notebooks from the 1990s, extracting elements and phrases that would become wholly new pieces.
Meredith monk riffs on musical, biological harmony with allwoman walker art center show composer and performance art pioneer meredith monk returns to minneapolis with a challenging new work for. Meredith monk, american performance artist, a pioneer in the avantgarde, whose work skillfully integrated diverse performance disciplines and media. In this remarkably moving film, monk skillfully draws parallels between a time of plague and fear of apocalypse, and our time of aids and fear of nuclear annihilation. The track turtle dreams immediately became a success and made meredith monk one of the fastest growing artists at that time. Following afternoon screenings, the evening discussion features meredith monk, performing arts journal editor bonnie marranca, and frank hentschker. The composer, vocalist, dancer, choreographer, director and filmmaker meredith monk celebrates the anniversary of the start of her professional career. What we have here on disc is only part of the artwork meredith monk created with her halflength film book of days. Meredith monk the american performing artist meredith monk born has earned renown as a composer, singer, dancer, choreographer, filmmaker and critic. Memory game is both a look back at a pivotal point in meredith monk s storied career, and a richly layered portrait of how vocal music, under the guidance of an indefatigable master, can play with our expectations in poignant and compelling ways. Meredith monk ensemble meredith monk voice, keyboard. Meredith monks tortoise dreams and folk music from another planet.
Recognized as one of the most unique and influential artists of our time, she is a pioneer in what is now called extended vocal technique and interdisciplinary performance. Both of these are extremely strong cuts and worth listening to. Meredith jane monk born november 20, 1942 is an american composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. Book of days 1989 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. One of the first and best performance artists, meredith monk s work is some of the least contrived and most convincing in that amorphously defined genre. Stream book of days by meredith monk and tens of millions of other songs on all your devices with amazon music unlimited. Personally i would have liked more of meredith monk s music in the film but its absence doesnt make book of days any less affecting.
Monk studied piano and eurythmics from an early age. Her films, installations and drawings have been shown in museums and galleries including exit art, frederieke taylor gallery, in two whitney biennials, and at the walker art center. Meredith monk recently celebrated her 50th year as a performing artist with a series of concerts and residency at carnegie hall. In meredith monk, deborah jowitt brings us an absorbing portrait of an artist whose career spans three decades of american avantgarde performance. Screenings will include 16 millimeter earrings 1966, book of days 1988. Meredith monk has often been described as a renaissance woman of the arts. In 1991, monk composed an opera called atlas, commissioned and produced by the houston opera and the american music theater. Her music can also be heard in films by such directors. My favorite monk cd is book of days, also transplanting us to some.
I had the pleasure of seeing the film purely by happenstance a few years after it came out and the sense of quiet and calm, intruded on by intimations of madness and foreshadowings of pestilence, is haunting and made a lasting impression on me. And an attempt to get down to the bones of the form. My favorite monk cd is book of days, also transplanting us to some imaginary past. Nextworks performs song books and other works by john cage at christ.
Meredith monk ellis island book of days 2007, dvd discogs. Her awardwinning films, ellis island and book of days, have screened worldwide and on pbs, and her music has been used by filmmakers jeanluc godard, terrence malick, david byrne and the coen brothers, among others. What thread runs through meredith monk s works in film, musictheater, and dance over the past half century. Meredith monk is a composer, a vocalist, a filmmaker, a theatrical director, and a choreographer.
Her films, installations and drawings have been shown in museums and galleries including exit art, frederieke taylor gallery, in two whitney. Buy products related to meredith monk products and see what customers say about. An inveterate multidisciplinary artist, shes been making innovative dancemusictheater pieces, vocal music, filmsand morefor 28. Book of days has a mythic quality, a sense of displacement. The girls dreams and her grandfather the book of days by meredith monk duration. She is the opposite of a dramatic composer, something like an antiverdi, so the opera consists of a set of tableaus that tend towards the static. Book of days extract a movie from meredith monk, 1988 audio. The opera depicts the final days of the american revolutionary activist thomas paine.
As a filmmaker, monk has created several awardwinning films including ellis island 1981 and her first feature, book of days 1988, which have screened at numerous film festivals worldwide and on pbs. Meredith monk information and concert dates music page 1. Meredith monk riffs on musical, biological harmony with. Published on feb 6, 2015 dawn is the first piece of music from a film by meredith monk. Meredith monk by meredith monk book the sensual nature of sound. Her compositons are mainly soft piano with voice taking the center stage, her. Meredith monk biography, birth date, birth place and pictures. Meredith monk appeared on the classical scene with the appearance of the album turtle dreams published on november 30, 1982. Meredith monk writing credits in alphabetical order tone blevins. Meredith monk discusses with interviewer john killacky the general principles and inspiration for her film works, ellis island, and book of days. Time yugoslavian hala strana fielding last visible dog 2004, originally released on jewelled antler, 2003 but if you.
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