Voice Piece for Soprano
Voice Piece for Soprano is a 1961 vocal composition by the Japanese artist and musician Yoko Ono.
Work
The score for the piece consists of the word 'scream' with three options for screaming given to the performer; to scream 'against the wind', 'against the wall' and 'against the sky'.[1]
The theorist G Douglas Barrett in his 2016 book After Sound: Toward a Critical Music described the repetition of the word 'against' in the score for Vocal Piece for Soprano as redoubling "the screams singularly confrontational, antagonistic, and contrarian quality".[1]
History
The piece was part of Ono's 2015 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Ono performed the piece herself several times during the duration of the exhibition, and visitors were encouraged via an "instruction piece" to scream into an amplified microphone. The sound of visitors screaming could be heard throughout the atrium of the museum for the duration of the exhibition from July to November, with the screams being heard as high as the museum's fifth floor.[2]
Performances and Recordings
The piece was covered by Sonic Youth on their 1999 album, SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century and also by American band, Dinosaur Robot, for a 2020 EP called Grapefruit Slices.[3]
References
- ^ a b G Douglas Barrett (11 August 2016). After Sound: Toward a Critical Music. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 126–. ISBN 978-1-5013-0809-3.
- ^ Carol Vernallis; Amy Herzog; John Richardson (August 2015). The Oxford Handbook of Sound and Image in Digital Media. Oxford University Press. pp. 159–. ISBN 978-0-19-025817-7.
- ^ "Grapefruit Slices, by Dinosaur Robot". Dinosaur Robot. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
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- Discography
- Songs
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with Lennon |
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- Live Peace in Toronto 1969 (with The Plastic Ono Band)
- Live Jam (with Plastic Ono Band/The Mothers of Invention)
- Onobox
- Walking on Thin Ice
- Yes, I'm a Witch
- Open Your Box
- Yes, I'm a Witch Too
- "Remember Love"
- "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow)"
- "Who Has Seen the Wind?"
- "Why"
- "Open Your Box"
- "Touch Me"
- "Mrs. Lennon" / "Midsummer New York"
- "Listen, the Snow Is Falling"
- "Sisters, O Sisters"
- "Now or Never" / "Move on Fast"
- "Death of Samantha" / "Yang Yang"
- "Woman Power"
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss"
- "Beautiful Boys"
- "Walking on Thin Ice"
- "Yes, I'm Your Angel"
- "No, No, No"
- "My Man"
- "Never Say Goodbye"
- "Hell in Paradise"
- "Open Your Box (remixes)"
- "Kiss Kiss Kiss (remixes)"
- "Yang Yang (remixes)"
- "Walking on Thin Ice (remixes)"
- "Hell in Paradise (remixes)"
- "Everyman... Everywoman... (remixes)"
- "You're the One (remixes)"
- "No, No, No (remixes)"
- "Give Peace a Chance (remixes)"
- "I'm Not Getting Enough (remixes)"
- "Give Me Something (remixes)"
- "Wouldnit (I'm a Star) (remixes)"
- "Move on Fast (remixes)"
- "Talking to the Universe (remixes)"
- "She Gets Down on Her Knees (remixes)"
- "I'm Moving On (remixes)"
- "Hold Me"
- "Walking on Thin Ice (remixes)"
- "Angel"
- "Woman Power (remixes)"
- Grapefruit (1964)
- Acorn (2013)
- Self-Portrait (1969)
- Apotheosis (1970)
- Fly (1970)
- Freedom (1970)
- Up Your Legs Forever (1971)
- Imagine (1972)
- Voice Piece for Soprano (1961)
- Apple (1966)
- Ceiling Painting/Yes Painting (1966)
- Half-A-Room (1967)
- Wish Tree (c.1981; ongoing)
- Toshi Ichiyanagi (first husband)
- Anthony Cox (second husband)
- John Lennon (third husband)
- Sean Lennon (son)
- Yasuda Zenjirō (great-grandfather)
- Toronto Rock and Roll Revival
- Sweet Toronto
- John and Yoko: A Love Story
- John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky
- Bagism
- Bed-in
- "Imagine"
- Nutopia
- Artists Against Fracking
- LennonOno Grant for Peace
- The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
- Murder of John Lennon
- Imagine Peace Tower
- Courage Award for the Arts
- The Dakota
- Tittenhurst Park
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