Yesterday evening Volti, the Bay Area’s a cappella vocal ensemble that specializes in new music, presented the last of the four mini-concerts, each highlighting the work of single composer, constituting its 42nd season. The program consisted of the world premiere performance of Ink by Pamela Z. Those familiar with this site probably already know of Z’s highly imaginative work as a vocalist, performing her own compositions, which often involve inventive use of electronic gear. As a result, I am pretty sure that this was my first opportunity to experience Z’s music performed by an a cappella ensemble or, for that matter, any other performers.
About twenty minutes in duration, Ink consists of five relatively short movements, each of which has its own “ground rules.” As a lexeme, “Ink” is the title of the last of those movements. However, it is also the morpheme that concludes the titles of the first four movements: “Drink,” “Blink,” “Think,” and “Link.” Each movement has individual parts for each of the sixteen vocalists; but the auditory content of the performance is tightly coupled to the video techniques engaged to present the performers, as well as the images that reflect on the title of the final movement.
Each movement has its own unique approach to reflecting on its title. Thus, the visual dimension of how “Blink” is performed reinforces the title more strongly than the vocal work. On the other hand, the video for “Drink” interleaves images of the vocalists with different forms of glasses holding different types of libations.
However, it is the final movement that offers the most powerful draw of attention to both visual and auditory stimuli. True to the movement’s title, the text being sung is about inkjet printing. The primary image is that of the score being sung, which gradually unfolds into four-part counterpoint. (This is definitely the first time I have associated Z with such sophisticated notation.) The vocalists follow the score dutifully. However, every now and then, there are blotches of ink that obscure the notes, during which the vocalists engage in a sort of groaning improvisation. As the score progresses to its conclusion, those blotches begin to take over the entire page:
courtesy of Volti
Taken as a whole, Ink is a playful composition, occasionally recalling the ludic qualities of Danny Clay’s Singing Puzzles, the new work that Volti performed this past December. Each movement serves up a generous share of wit, but no movement ever lasts beyond the limit of feeling welcome. Nevertheless, the composition depends significantly on video as part of the creative process. This makes it ideally suited to prevailing lockdown conditions, but it also leaves me curious as to how Z might work in the future with the “concert experience” of an a cappella ensemble.
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