coronasolfège for 6

coronasolfège for 6
Music by Héloïse Werner
Performed by The Gesualdo Six
Audio by Josh Cooter
Video by Owain Park

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About coronasolfège for 6
Commissioned by The Gesualdo Six, August 2020

Coronasolfege was born at the start of lockdown in March 2020. Just like every other musician in the world, all my performances suddenly got cancelled and I was stuck at home with nothing to do. I needed to find something to keep myself occupied. I started experimenting with creating rhythms and short melodies only using my face (eyes, teeth, voice) and my hands (on my cheeks). I came up with a simple 30-second composition where my eyes, teeth, voice and hands each go in different but repeated rhythms: eyes in crotchets, teeth in quavers, voice in triplets and hands in semiquavers. I filmed it, posted it on Twitter and Coronasolfege was born.

Creating these Coronasolfege videos gave me a sense of purpose - each one was like a mini challenge. My main goal with them was to cheer people up so each video is upbeat and sometimes funny. Alongside the rhythmic games and melodic earworms, I also enjoyed creating comical characters using world-plays and props.

This project has been a lovely way to be socially engaged with people from all over the world during the difficult periods of isolation. I wrote this new piece for this wonderful ensemble – I hope you enjoy the result…

[richardbrown]

Bravo! Such a triumph, beautifully performed, recorded and filmed. Loved the way the camera 'blinks' too. Well done Héloïse and Gesualdo Six for showing us how a pandemic can also be the incubator for something truly wonderful. Having followed #coronasolfége for most of this miserable year, this is actually very moving to watch, thank you all so much! <3 I'll spend the rest of the day dreaming of a time when I might see this performed in a real concert with actual people in the room.

[susanhey]

Just seen these wonderful guys live this afternoon. They were absolutely amazing!! The quality of their singing is beyond anything. I’ve experienced before. Perfection is the only way to describe their singing. ❤❤❤❤

[averages]

Why hadn’t I come across this earlier?!?! Witty, bright and inspiring music presented with such integrity and charm. Thank you, Heloise and The Gesualdo Six!

[ninaayres]

Did Josh Cooter mix this, it's very clever!

[GregHarradineComposer]

Stunning! Love the harmony at 2:00. Very 2020.

[fatherglyn]

mesmerising- very unexpected and quite brilliant. Thank you.

[jongmaster]

This song reminds me of Fitzpleasure by Alt-J