PG - Meredith Monk

4 American Composers offers startling and intimate insights into the music and ideas of four very original American composers: John Cage, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, and Robert Ashley. Incorporating performance and conversations with and about the artists, these programs create an experience that extends beyond the music alone, that explores each composer's concepts and expresses their personalities. Based on London performances under the aegis of the New York/Almeida Festival, this set of four one-hour documentaries, originally produced in 1983, introduced these avant-garde composers and their music to general audiences.

Réalisés en 1983 par Peter Greenaway, ces quatre documentaires d’une heure offrent d’étonnants et intimes aperçus de la création musicale et d’où viennent les idées chez quatre incroyables compositeurs américains d’avant-garde; la première partie porte sur John Cage et Robert Ashley, la deuxième partie porte sur Meredith Monk et Phillip Glass!


Meredith Monk is an artist of many media who has transcended the accepted boundaries of vocal song in her exploration of the human voice. Here she performs with her vocal group.

Meredith Monk moves from performance to music composition, filmmaking, directing and choreography, although she is primarily known for her vocal innovations and extended techniques. Monk received an Obie Award for her work in 1972. In 1973 she performed Education of the Girlchild, a work without dialogue that explored movement and stasis; she revived it in 1979 and again in 1991. In addition to live performances, she and her ensemble made numerous recordings, including Our Lady of Late (1974), Dolmen Music (1981), and Turtle Dreams (1983). In the 1980s, Monk wrote and directed two films, Ellis Island (1981), and Book of Days (1988). ù