Sonic Revelations, Sonic Revolutions

(Pardon my French.)

“Puisque bele dame m’eime” was quite the breath of fresh (or at least, different) air after the tension of our other listenings. It’s a gorgeous and delicate piece, made even better by the Anonymous 4’s excellent technique and expression.

One of the piece’s elements that struck me the most was its “imperfect perfection”, for lack of a better term. Don’t get me wrong; by “imperfect,” I don’t mean flawed or badly performed; instead, not only is the piece graced by purity of tone, but also imbued with this deep, spine-tingling sense of humanity. The basic structure of the song shows this, especially at the beginning; the lilting, haunting melody, ringing with emotion, weaves itself with the ethereally, almost inhumanly pure note consistent throughout the piece.

I’m loath to describe that constant tone as a drone, since I tend to associate the word “drone” with machine-like sounds, or the lovely drone that we grind our teeth to in “Kounterdictionaries” (no bias there, of course not!). This piece’s “drone” is so radically different and pristine. It evokes different and deep emotions too; yet from a distance, as if the listener were standing alone in a vast and ancient cathedral, observing the gorgeous but fading fresco on the vaulted ceiling high above.

I completely agree with Matt G.’s image of the melodious voice as a soaring bird, rising and falling through the divine heavens created by the other voices. The usage of Dorian mode and the mystery surrounding the piece’s creation also adds so much to its ethereal beauty. Definitely a favorite.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 9:54 pm and is filed under anonymous, caroline, puisque bele dame m'eime. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.