Abstract
"In the next piece we dive into a completely different sound world, and the word «dive» is to be understood here quite literally. As the Roman numeral in the work's title, Mouthpiece XXIV suggests, it belongs to a large-scale series, in which the American vocal artist and composer Erin Gee explores the sound possibilities of the human mouth with differentiated approaches and techniques. Just get involved with how the sounds change when the percussion instruments are immersed in the aquarium, and what a beautifully subtle interaction develops between the tenor saxophone, the whistling of the percussionist and the glissandi of the diving pipes! At the beginning of the Mouthpiece series was a piece for solo voice in 2000, which Gee performed first as a graduate student. To date, the series has grown to over 30 works for orchestra, opera, vocal ensemble, instrumental ensemble and string quartet, which have been performed by renowned interpreters from all over the world. Illuminating a basic (musical) idea from ever new angles can be very appealing. We will come back to this below."
Johannes Knapp (Artistic Director of Collegium Novum Zürich)