Voiced

There has always been a close connection between the human voice and the flute. In contrast to the other wind instruments, the flute has no mouthpiece, the labium in the instrument, so that the sound has to be generated directly by the player, similar to the voice. Everywhere in the world where the transverse flute has its place in archaic music, the great affinity between singing or speaking voice and flute playing can be noticed. Whereas a beautifully toned singing voice and a speaking narrative air were classic examples in the music of the past 300 years for generally all instrumentalists, 20th-century music has rediscovered the closeness in the sound of flute and voice: breathing, exhaling and inhaling, wealth of colour, the beauty of danger.
Wandering along the chain of association of language – voice – writing – text(ure) – sound, the listeners now come across six aesthetically very different works which throw light on one or more aspects of the way. One hears a musical text, to be played free of any meaning and in a decidedly non-narrative manner, a duet for one, choir, the uncovering of deep layers of superimposed musics, the reading of hastily scribbled writings, texture evolving from language and voice colouring in the flute sound and from blowing in the instrument, a poem set to music – selected and interpreted by the flutist Astrid Schmeling.