Anthony Vine
Earthen pots, jars, and vases were lodged in the masonry of many medieval churches. These objects functioned as resonators. Cantors and choristers would sympathetically excite these vessels with their singing, causing ephemeral sonorities to emanate from the upper recesses of the church, amplifying and enhancing the sung liturgy. As a composer concerned with spatial resonance and psychoacoustics, I have felt a profound connection with this whimsical feat and seek to engage the subject in an aesthetic, hands-on way. While in residence at the American Academy in Rome, I will visit vessel-laden churches in Italy and explore their inner voices—basking in their reverberance, singing into resonators, conversing with the monastic community, and listening to mass. I will braid documentation of these experiences into a multichannel audio/video installation that introduces audiences to the spectralities and histories of this largely unknown archaeoacoustic subject.