Memory Game Meredith Monk

• Meredith Monk (b. 1942): The Games:
• 1The Games: Spaceship (Arr. M. Gordon for Chamber Ensemble)04:18
• 2The Games: Gamemaster's Song (Version for Voices & Chamber Ensemble)05:12
• 3The Games: Migration (Version for Narrator, Voices & Chamber Ensemble)07:37
• 4The Games: Memory Song (Arr. J. Wolfe for Voices & Chamber Ensemble)06:44
• 5The Games: Downfall (Arr. K. Thomson for Voices & Chamber Ensemble)03:56
• The Politics of Quiet:
• 6The Politics of Quiet: Waltz in 5s (Arr. M. Monk & A. Sniffin for Voices & Chamber Ensemble)03:54
• Turtle Dreams Cabaret:
• 7Turtle Dreams Cabaret: Tokyo Cha Cha (Arr. A. Sniffin for Voices & Chamber Ensemble)09:45
• Impermanence:
• 8Impermanence: Totentanz (Arr. D. Lang for Chamber Ensemble)03:12
• Acts from Under and Above:
• 9Acts from Under and Above: Double Fiesta (Arr. D. Lang for Voice & Chamber Ensemble)05:42
• Total Runtime50:20

Info for Memory Game

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. What emerges is a suite of songs that flows with a remarkable narrative cohesion, stemming in large part from the composer’s willingness to revisit the past with an insatiably curious eye.

“The first time that I ever worked with Bang on a Can, it was in the late ’90s,” Monk tells DownBeat magazine in a recent interview. “That was really, in a way, the beginning of this project. It’s exciting to hear these songs again in a new way, with more of an instrumental aspect added onto the vocal.”

Teaming up here with her renowned Vocal Ensemble (featuring Theo Bleckmann, Katie Geissinger and Allison Sniffin) and the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Monk explores all-new arrangements of never-before-recorded selections from her award-winning sci-fi opera The Games, as well as new versions of several pieces originally released on Do You Be (1987) and impermanence (2008). The album includes arrangements by Monk, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Bang on a Can All-Stars member Ken Thomson, and Vocal Ensemble member Allison Sniffin.

For composer Michael Gordon, whose arrangement of “Spaceship” opens the album, his own memories of Monk’s music go back to his earliest days in New York City. “I first saw Meredith perform when I came to New York in the ’70s,” he says. “Her first appearance on the Bang on a Can Marathon was in 1989, and we’ve had a close association ever since. In 1999, we arranged some of her music for her to sing with the Bang on a Can All-Stars. It was magic, and sparks flew! MEMORY GAME is a collection of pieces we’ve performed together in New York and on tour, with some new arrangements that we’ve yet to play live.”

As Monk writes in her liner notes for the recording: “Right from the beginning of conceiving MEMORY GAME, the prospect of uniting the magnificent singers and players from Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble and Bang on a Can All-Stars filled me with excitement. My hope is that our rich and joyous experience of making music together inspires and resonates with the listener.”

Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble
Theo Bleckmann, voice
Ashley Bathgate, voice
Katie Geissinger, voice
Michael Cerveris, voice
Robert Black, voice
Meredith Monk, voice
Vicky Chow, voice
Allison Sniffin, voice, bowed psaltery
Bang on a Can All-Stars:
Ashley Bathgate, cello, voice
Robert Black, electric and acoustic bass
Vicky Chow, piano, keyboard, melodica
David Cossin, percussion
Mark Stewart, electric guitar, banjo, voice
Ken Thomson, clarinets, saxophones

Meredith Monk
is a composer, singer, and creator of new opera and music-theater works. 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”. Her groundbreaking exploration of the voice as an instrument, as an eloquent language in and of itself, expands the boundaries of musical composition, creating landscapes of sound that unearth feelings, energies, and memories for which there are no words.

Over the last six decades, Ms. Monk has been hailed as one of National Public Radio’s 50 Great Voices and “one of America’s coolest composers.” Her numerous awards and honors include a MacArthur “Genius” award and Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Republic of France. In conjunction with her 50th Season of creating and performing, she was appointed the 2014-15 Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall. Recently Monk received three of the highest honors bestowed on a living artist in the United States; induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the 2017 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, and a 2015 National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama. Celebrated internationally, her work has been presented at major venues around the world.

Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble
consists of some of the finest and most adventurous singer/instrumentalist/performers active in new music. Founded in 1978 to further expand Monk’s groundbreaking exploration of the human voice, the Ensemble has received multiple awards and critical acclaim, including a 2008 GRAMMY nomination for impermanence. Appearing in festivals, theaters and concert halls around the world, Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble can also be heard on numerous recordings on the ECM New Music Series label.

Bang on a Can All-Stars
Formed in 1992, the Bang on a Can All-Stars are recognized worldwide for their ultra-dynamic live performances and recordings of today’s most innovative music. Freely crossing the boundaries between classical, jazz, rock, world and experimental music, this six-member amplified ensemble has consistently forged a distinct category-defying identity, taking music into uncharted territories. Performing each year throughout the U.S. and internationally, the All-Stars have shattered the definition of what concert music is today.

Together, the All-Stars have worked in unprecedented close collaboration with some of the most important and inspiring musicians of our time, including Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, Burmese circle drum master Kyaw Kyaw Naing, Tan Dun, DJ Spooky, and many more. The group’s celebrated projects include their landmark recordings of Brian Eno’s ambient classic Music for Airports and Terry Riley’s In C, as well as live performances with Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Don Byron, Iva Bittova, Thurston Moore, Owen Pallett and others. The All-Stars were awarded Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year in 2005 and have been heralded as “the country’s most important vehicle for contemporary music” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Recent project highlights include Field Recordings, a major new multi media project featuring hot-off-the-press commissioned works by Tyondai Braxton, Mira Calix, Anna Clyne, Dan Deacon, Bryce Dessner, Florent Ghys, Michael Gordon, Jóhann Jóhannsson, David Lang, Christian Marclay, Paula Matthusen, Steve Reich, Todd Reynolds, Julia Wolfe, and Nick Zammuto; the world premiere, performances, and recording of Steve Reich’s 2x5 including a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall; the group’s multiple visits to China for the Beijing Music Festival and Hong Kong Arts Festival; the US tour and Carnegie Hall performance of Julia Wolfe’s Steel Hammer, an evening-length staged concert with Trio Mediaeval; commissioned works by Louis Andriessen, Bill Frisell, Ryuichi Sakamoto and more. With a massive repertoire of works written specifically for the group's distinctive instrumentation and style of performance, the All-Stars have grown to encompass a genre in their own right. The ensemble records on Cantaloupe Music and has released recordings on Sony, Universal and Nonesuch.

Booklet for Memory Game