Åke Parmerud

Grains of Voices

The idea of Grains of Voices was born when Åke Parmerud was commissioned to write a work for the Swedish Radio. A journey around the world, recording the different inflections of the human voice then followed and the material was processed in the studio to make this electro-acoustic composition.

Grains of Voices  is an electro-acoustic mix, a collage of voices from all over the world – singing, talking and shouting. The work was premiered in the Dag Hammarskjöld auditorium, in the UN headquarters in New York during the celebration of the UN day in 1997. This initiative came from the director of the Swedish Electro-acoustic studio, Ulf Stenberg. This suggestion met the approval of Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Samir Sanbar, assistant secretary general.
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Show playlist
    • 1.
      Grains of Voices Music: Åke Parmerud Text: Åke Parmerud
      31'11
    • 2.
      Carracas city ambience
      1'58
    • 3.
      Village women singing
      1'54
    • 4.
      Kawa ceremony
      0'47
    • 5.
      Old Fijian war song
      2'06
    • 6.
      Women having fun
      0'33
    • 7.
      Two aboriginal cermonial songs
      1'23
    • 8.
      Small Ketcak-ensemble
      2'52
    • 9.
      New Dehli city ambience
      1'03
    • 10.
      Blind beggar singing
      1'07
    • 11.
      Thai folk singers
      1'34
    • 12.
      Village party entertainment
      1'11
    • 13.
      The dollmakers wedding song
      2'04
    • 14.
      Outdoor rehersal of Tibetan opera
      1'27
    • 15.
      Tibetan monks evening ceremony
      2'10
    • 16.
      Silence
      3'00
  • Total playtime 56'44

Compact Disc // CAP 21579 // Electro Acoustic // Releasedate: 1 January, 1997