Meredith Monk

Nightfall

The composer states:'Nightfall is an incantatory piece inspired by how light changes at the end of a day: the adding and subtracting of colours and shadow; the slowly building and diminishing dynamics; the shifting texture as the sun intensifies and then disappears over the horizon.Nightfall should be sung without vibrato so that the vocal colours and their translucent quality remain pure and clear. Recalling Baroque passacaglia procedure, the bass line underpins the entire work.Nightfall requires a chorus of no less than 26 voices with at least two basses. It's important to keep the parts balanced as the texture thickens so that all the lines are always clearly heard.'