For this episode I chose a subject that had too many possibilties, so I’ve ended up with a ‘Double Troika’ like I did with Tearjerkers!
I wanted to look at music that just used the voice, and choose some examples that were just a small part of that huge spectrum. ‘Mouth Music’ has so many variations globally, that it would impossible to cover properly, so instead I’ve picked 6 of my favourites. Starting with the music you might expect (the polyphony of the Trio Mediaeval) and ending with the more modern sound of Björk’s ‘Who is it’ from her vocal-only album, Medúlla.
- ’Salve Mater Misericordie’ by Trio Mediaeval (Traditional hymn, ‘Holy Mother have mercy’)
- ’Sleep’ by Eric Whitacre
- ’Boy 1904’ by Jonsi and Alex (the last known recording of a castrato singer, fact fans!)
- ’Hide and Seek’ by Imogen Heap
- ’Song for the Siren’ by This Mortal Coil (yes, this one is a bit cheaty as it has a guitar as well!)
- ’Who is it (Carry my joy, the left, Carry my pain on the right)’ by Björk
How to get this episode
Listen using the player above, download Troika #34: Voice as an mp3, Subscribe to Troika with an RSS reader or via iTunes.
All music featured is the copyright of the respective artists.