Exaudi / Phace

An ancient Egyptian sculpture finds new meaning as a desk-top ornament. But what status does it have between familiar discourse and the unknown? This question becomes the starting point for an archaeology of musical archetypes. In the concluding part of this tribute to the composer, the ensemble PHACE and the vocal group EXAUDI address perspectives on belonging and exclusion.

The title of Isabel Mundry’s trio »Sounds, Archeologies«, in which individual voices repeatedly flow towards or away from each other in ways that make listeners gasp, already hints at unearthing unconventional sounds. This piece for the unusual combination of basset horn, cello and piano, was inspired by an ancient Egyptian sculpture – or to be more precise: by a picture of this sculpture sitting on a desk in an Egyptology Institute »amongst papers and paperweights.«