Vocal in 8 Lust Songs

October 31, 2012 7:17 AM

About 3:26 into this Michael Nyman piece (8 Lust Songs, NSFW is you speak Italian) the vocalist starts doing something strange and (to me) unpleasant. Can someone with more knowledge either singing or the composer explain what she is doing and what it is supposed to evoke.
posted by Fiery Jack to Media & Arts (1 answer total)

The singer is making what we would call a "character voice" to project a kind of grotesque character. According to the linked wikipedia article, the singer portrayed a variety of different characters in the piece. The article specifically references a "voyeuristic old woman," and I would suspect that is what we are hearing here.

Beyond that, it's hard to say without looking at the composer's instructions in the score.
posted by slkinsey at 7:40 AM on October 31, 2012 [2 favorites]