VERITY STANDEN PROJECTS
polyphony
Step inside polyphony, an immersive audio installation composed from the weaving and splicing of conversations with people across the country.
An intricate homage to the human voice.
How many times have you cleared your throat today?
Has your voice ever surprised you?
In here is a detailed tapestry of composition. Voices that have changed dramatically, trained voices, shy voices. Voices that have been quietened. Voices ready to sing.
Listen a while.
In the autumn of last year Verity and her collaborators started interviewing people about their voices. Mostly outside, on park benches. From Middlesbrough to London, Cumbria to Bristol, they asked people about the way they speak and sing, listened to their stories that have shaped their voices.
polyphony captures these conversations in intricate detail. So we can hear all the unique sounds that surround the words. Swallows, breaths, hesitations. In a time of distance, this is a celebration of the intimate, deeply human noises we can only hear close-up.
A flurry of laughter
A circle of ums and errs
A song of breath
A wall of tongues meeting teeth
“Remarkable, a chorus of sighs, ums, ahs, and laughter probing how we feel about our voices. Music was woven throughout with chords, humming, and beatboxing spilling over into beautiful song.”
– The Times
Conceived and composed by Verity Standen
Composed by Yas Clarke
Supported by Coombe Farm Studios
Produced by MAYK
Commissioned by Bristol New Music and supported by Arts Council England