Brahim Kerkour: Intone

More than all the other composers in Mediterranean Voices, Brahim Kerkour moves away from the human voice in his piece: Intone is a work for six singers that features no singing whatsoever. Rather, their oral and breathing equipment is employed to obtain a far greater and richer array of sounds. This demands greatest possible sensitivity and attentiveness in the use and effects of one’s own oral and breathing equipment.
The idea of Intone is the development of »a continuous breath in which microscopic shifts of colours gradually expand and contract, illuminate and obscure, and enter or leave the regions of a (mental) acoustic space. I wanted to develop a non-human vocal palette of feeling, luminosity and colour.« (B.K.)
Brahim Kerkour developed has a precise idea of the characteristic identity of each sound, and therefore developed a highly detailed system of notation–with 14 different noteheads for the different possibilities of sound production, indications of lip position and pressure, tongue position, shape of the oral cavity, air pressure and more. These are augmented by repeated verbal instructions in the score. A CD recorded by the composer himself conveyed additional impressions and explanations of the sounds.
Despite his exact intentions, the composer invites the performers to explore the different possibilities of sound production offered by their respective physiognomies, for there is still a degree of flexibility within the individual techniques. »Examine the effect of micro-changes in movement and dynamics on the weight, feeling, luminosity and colour of the sound.« Many of these techniques concern listening to the voice and guiding it towards these sounds by responding aesthetically to their will and making the voice the most important aspect of the performance. »Each performance will be a search.«
Corresponding to the microscopic changes of sonority, the work’s dynamics also develop in minute steps. A crescendo at the beginning continues across two bars from silence to quadruple piano; on the second page, the music reaches a triple piano. Much of Intone is therefore located at the threshold of audibility, and like the performers, the listeners too are invited to maintain the greatest possible attentiveness. If at all possible, Brahim Kerkour wants amplification to be avoided (though the level has to be raised slightly in the concert hall of the Theaterhaus).
As this exclusion of »human« vocal sounds suggests, Intone does not seek to tell any story, arouse any object-like associations or offer any credo. It is composed purely as a sensual experience. »My aim is to invite the listener to an enjoyable and celebratory sound.«