Category:  instrumental music, multimedia work

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for 5 megaphones, violin, cello, bass clarinet, percussion, electronic music, audio-playback and TV's

composed for Plus-Minus Ensemble 

 

Shout is a song performed by British band Tears for Fears, written by Roland Orzabal and Ian Stanley released in the UK on 23 November 1984. The song is considered to be one of the most successful works of the eighties. Shout is also a song that I strongly associate with my early childhood and a period of growing interest of MTV. In the early nineties, the song and its characteristic sound were present in my home almost every day. Over time, the song gained a more personal status, becoming a bridge between the past and the present. About twenty-five years after its release, the song gained new recognition throughout the MTV series Skins. Nowadays, the song is still valid proving the timelessness and universalism of the music and its message. 

 

Shout has its roots in Primal Scream Therapy – trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov which worked by getting people to confront their fears by shouting and screaming. The treatment became popular among artists including John Lennon and became the inspiration for Roland Orzabal and Ian Stanley from Tears for Fears to make the classic hit song. The piece aimed to encourage people to speak out loud about things that disturb us.

 

Shout 1-3 is a series consisting of three pieces composed for the London-based collective, Plus-Minus Ensemble. The piece is written for violin, cello, clarinet, percussion, electric guitar, and audio-playback. The video is inspired by the original Shout song as well as its main influences. The phrase, scream in silence, became as well crucial during the creation process of the piece.

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The project also deals with a study of tensions, those visible and those deeply hidden – tensions that are embodied, silenced and publicised; tensions visible on our faces and in our body movements. 

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Shout is a hybrid project consisting of electro-acoustic music with performative elements and experimental video where the sounds blend with body gestures, movements, and vivid imagery.

 

The world premiere of Shout 1-3 took place during the International Festival of Contemporary Music, Warsaw Autumn on 20th September 2019 at the Warsaw Philharmonic.

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Watch trailer here: