Theo Bleckmann

Theo Bleckmann Photo: Jörg Grosse Gelderman/NEXT

"I explore the unsuspected emotional and expressive possibilities of the voice with a mercurial aesthetic," says New York based composer/vocalist/performer Theo Bleckmann, whose three-and-a-half octave range has been heard with, among many others, Meredith Monk (with whom he has worked since 1994), Laurie Anderson, Mark Dresser, John Hollenbeck, Philip Glass, Anthony Braxton, and Ben Monder.

Through his research of the Greco-Egyptian world, its music, and a manuscript published by the American Society of Papyrologists, Mr. Bleckmann's solo performance theatre piece The Alexandria Carry On imagines a fictional character -- a mixed blood slave who learns to read -- singing himself into being in the lost ancient Library of Alexandria, Egypt. (The destruction of which, scholars argue, could be blamed either on Julius Caesar in 48 BC, Theophilus, Alexandria's Patriarch, in 391 AD, or Moslems who took the city in 640 AD)

Excerpts from Theo Bleckmann's The Alexandria Carry On: A cure (MP3) text adapted from Herophilos and Celsus Earth and Sky (MP3) text adapted from Euripides

Mr. Bleckmann will travel to the new library in Alexandria, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, (which opened in 2002 after a decade of design/construction) to premiere the piece in 2004. He hopes to "create a sorely-needed link between the European/American artist and his Arab hosts." (The Alexandria Carry On was one of 9 projects supported by MTC's new Global Connections program)

Photo: Jörg Grosse Gelderman/NEXT

MTC: How did your relationship with Meredith Monk begin?
TB: In 1994, she was looking for someone to sing Facing North with her. A member from her ensemble had heard me sing and recommended me, but I had known Meredith socially for a couple years before that. Actually, we just did Facing North at the Opera House in Sydney (Australia), where I just returned from. We also did an ensemble concert of Meredith's Mercy in Brisbane, a recording we worked on last year. (Mercy was commissioned in 2001 by MTC's Commissioning Music/USA program)

Theo Bleckmann "examining" Meredith Monk in her piece Mercy from 2001. Photo: Bernhard Thomas

MTC: When did you discover that your voice would be your instrument?
TB: Pretty early on. I sang a lot as a child. I was a soprano in Germany, where I grew up. I was a soloist in choirs when I was younger and, after my voice break was over (around the age of 18), I started singing in bands and ensembles again.
MTC: What do you remember about Germany?
TB: I was exposed to a lot of interesting music early on. Opera. Classical. Everything that still influences me today, although maybe not so directly. In high school we were taught Bach, Schoenberg, Cage, the twelve-tone school. It isn't like that here, unless you go to a specific school that focuses on the arts.

The set for The Alexandria Carry On. Design: F. Elaine Williams

MTC: What sort of research did you do for The Alexandria Carry On?
TB: I read a lot about the music of ancient Alexandria. There are many different theories and books on the subject. Some say the music was microtonal, some say it wasn't. I try to make sense of it, although some theories are a bit convoluted. Most books agree on the instruments that were used. Because most instruments have limitations, we can say that there was a certain system of tuning involved, which is where I began. Since researchers agree that most ancient music was based on tetra-chords - four notes in a row, either a half step or whole steps apart - I started writing exercises using the tetra-chords together as a scale. The tetra-chord scales were a departure point for me; the resource of all my material. The interesting artistic moment came when I broke free from the exercises. Sometimes, creating self-imposed parameters can ultimately lead to greater freedom.

10-tone melody in D (MP3) based on tetra- chord scale (10-string lyre tuned E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, Eb, F, C#)

MTC: In the performance of Alexandria you'll be playing the lyre, the flute, and the water organ. The engineering department at Bucknell University built a water organ specifically for the piece. How does it work?
TB: It's like a harmonium. You pedal to push the water into pressure chambers which, in turn, go into the organ's pipes. Although it works, the effort vs. the sound ratio is not quite accurate: there is too much physical energy involved to get a very little tone. We've had some other problems with it. The footswitches make a lot of noise. You can't hear the pitches very well. It's not quite holding up. It's sitting in the shop right now, until we can figure out how to perfect it so it can be played more easily. Even if it is, it's so big and clunky, I'm not sure if it would make it to Egypt (laughs).