The Four Susans
Silent Monkey
(In progress since 2017)
To hear the music-in-progress click on this image
Silent Monkey is a band/theatrical concept/ill-defined notion, built around the writings and ravings of Leo Nitemynks (wordsmith), with Stone MkInyel (musicjones) trying to keep up. Many other artists with names that have 12 letters and k's and y's in unexpected places have also been involved. For a historical perspective see the project 'Spice Up Your Lift' by the Syringe Babies from the Planet Zyz.
The Four Susans is Silent Monkey's epic work-in-progress. It's Words, Music, Theatre, and Towering Conceptual Edifices. Vivaldi features, as do The New City of Kelostemy Inn (precisely half way between Wembley Stadium and Villa Park), haiku/hiKoo, 5,7,17 and 2017.
Leo Nitemynks Confides:
"The Four Susans project is a year long multi-media work-in-process farrago, spawned by the espresso-fooled sprawl
to be found everywhere-yet-nowhere
in
( which is a-bit-longer-than-a-year-long )
All of this work be the (de)construct of
The Discombobulates of Kelostemy Inn
creators of and collaborators with&within the developing fable of
The Four Susans
Now if that make sense, you really haven't got it,?have you,
least not properly. And you will be wondering whether
it has anything at all to do with Antonio Vivaldi.
Well ! brace yourself peeps,'cos there's not just
The Luton Wind a-huffin' but The Vivaldi Wind to boot,
blown from The Bridge of Sighs to Kelostemy Inn,
in the shape of a Giro' sister;
one of Antonio's 'girls'
As the drama unfold, we recommend that
!you 'ang on to yer Italianate 'ats"
The Four Susans Characters, so far:
Narrator Nitemynks: who speaks in
Haiku/HiKoo: that use
The numbers 17, 7, 5: a subset of
Prime Numbers: a mathematical concept lost on
Wayne Wax: (e)strange(d) father of
Susan Tinny: a different version of
Susan ?Ynnit, Girl in a Coma: daughter of
Kolee ?Ynnit (Ms): (im)possible one time lover of
(Professor) Sikment Loyne, psychiatrist: non-believer in the apparition of
Susan Giro: sister of
Anna Giro: (possible) lover of
Antonio Vivaldi, the 17th Century Italian Composer: whose work is adored by
Susan Frog: (Autumn Lady) wife of
Pastor Henry Frog: who probably has no connection with
Emnnit Yokels, no idea who he is: who, like all the other characters, was a resident of or associated with:
The New City of Kelostemy Inn (precisely half way between Wembley Stadium and Villa Park), in
2017 or (/and)
Mantua (Italy), in
1717, including
The Prophet Nostlikemen, the only (physical) being who can exist in both those years/places simultaneously.
The Four Susans Concept, so far
Here is a video of The Four Susans Launch Event on 7th August 2017 in Centrala, Birmingham. In this video Nitemynks performs some of his developing narrative, and lots of the music created so far is featured - in particular the first performance of Summer by Oley Me Tin(n)ks, played live by her band, Sleenky Itomn. (Note that at this point, music and words are very much still in the developmental stage). The whole concept is introduced, which makes everything as clear as night.
The Four Susans Music, so far
Click on the images to hear the individual tracks
Here is the Current Playlist
Nitemynks' lyrics allude to the plight of Susan Giro, the elusive 18th Century character who was embroiled with Vivaldi, and now communicates through time with our 21st century protagonist Kolee ?Ynnit (Ms).
Music and Lyrics are convoluted from Japan's The Other Side of Life.
Viola: Oley Me Tin(n)ks Vocal and Piano: Stone MkInyel Bass: Guy Jones Production: Planet Zyz
Nitemynks' Musical Briefs:
At the start of 2017 Nitemynks asked Four Composers to each create a 'Seasonal Susan'.
They are:
Winter: Soke My Linnet (aka: Splashgirl);
Spring: Stone MkInyel (aka: Steven McDaniel);
Summer: Oley Me Tin(n)ks (aka: Faith Brackenbury);
Autumn: KT Meensoily (aka: Alicia Gardener-Trejo).
These works were to be written to certain constraints/inspirations imagined by Nitemynks.
(1) 3 musical references, each with a seasonal and compass-point association.
(2) Each composition to last 17 minutes, and consist of 3 movements, two of 5 and one of 7 minutes duration.
(3) The numbers 5, 7 and 17 (associated with the Haiku form) to play a key part in the four musical compositions.
(4) A particular 'Element' and associated 'Temperament' to inform the music.
(5) Each composer to begin their composition at their appropriate solstice/equinox and pass their completed work to the subsequent composer at the next equinox/solstice, thus providing one of the musical references in (1).
Oley Me Tin(n)ks Prelewd was that reference for Soke My Linnet, as a starting point.
Faith Brackenbury is a violinist/violist/vocalist of eclectic hybridism preferring to forego labels such as jazz, folk, classical but paradoxically fancies the avant garde and free improvising labels if needs must. She became embroiled in Silent Monkey as Oley me Tin(n)ks.
Prelewd is based on a 17-note loop, supporting free melodies. This version is an arrangement by Stone MkInyel for the football crowd scene in the The Four Susans Radio Edition, Episode 1.
(Production: Planet Zyz)
Image: Omenn Skylite
Season: Winter Compass Point: North Element: Fire Temperament: Choleric
Musical Reference: Me' Tin(n)ks: Prelewd
Leo Nitemynks' impassioned ravings were such that one of the best bands to come out of Norway, Splashgirl were moved to change their name to 'Soke My Linnet' and create a 17 minute piece of 3 movements for The Four Susans project.
(Production: Splashgirl)
Season: Winter Compass Point: North Element: Fire Temperament: Choleric
Musical Reference: Sibelius Origin of Fire
(Production: Splashgirl)
Season: Winter Compass Point: North Element: Fire Temperament: Choleric
Musical Reference: Vivaldi Four Seasons: Winter
(Production: Splashgirl)
Season: Spring Compass Point: East Element: Water Temperament: Phlegmatic
Musical References: Soke My Linnet: Winter Suite Vivaldi: Four Seasons-Spring I Stravinsky: Rite of Spring.
Spring 1 is scored for Violin (representing Vivaldi), Soprano (representing Susan Giro), piano, synthesiser, and wood-blocks. The piece is based on a tone row that uses the 5 black notes, then the 7 white notes, followed by the 5 black notes again, thus mimicking the haiku/hiKoo 5-7-5 form, and this is immediately heard in the piano part in 17/8. The Violin part, in 17/4, springs directly from a combination of the tone row with the melodies from Vivaldi's Spring I. The Soprano part, in 51/8, develops in the same way with the first 1/3 of Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring'. The Synthesiser part uses the black notes. The wood blocks are in 1/4 note and 1/4 note triplets. The whole piece develops logically from all these parts playing simultaneously, repeating until all cycles return to the starting point. Then parts are muted selectively. To be honest, Stone MkInyel must have been out of his tiny mind. (Production: Planet Zyz)
Season: Spring Compass Point: East Element: Water Temperament: Phlegmatic
Musical References: Soke My Linnet: Winter Suite Vivaldi: Spring II Stravinsky: Rite of Spring.
(In addition to the given constraints Spring 2 is also heavily influenced by Philipp Gropper's PHILM, who showed early interest in the project, and provided a sneak preview of their then recently released album Sun Ship, as further stimulus).
Spring 2 uses the same ensemble as Spring 1, with the addition of drums and fretless bass, as appearing in Susan Surong. The same tone row is now in the bass part, built on rhythmic piano stabs of 5's and 7's on 7/4 and 5/4. Now the violin melody is developed from Vivaldi's Spring II and vocal melody from the middle 1/3 of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. The piece is structured by looping and then selectively muting these layered parts, as before. By now MkInyel is clearly disappearing up his own backside.
(Production: Planet Zyz)
Season: Spring Compass Point: East Element: Water Temperament: Phlegmatic
Musical References: Soke My Linnet: Winter Suite Vivaldi: Spring III Stravinsky Rite of Spring.
Spring 3 is scored for the same ensemble as the preceding movements, but with drums and percussion removed and the girls choir heard in Susan Sarong added. They sing chords created from the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th degrees of scales built on either the white notes or the black notes. The leading voice moves chromatically, so the chords alternate between the black and white note scales to create chord sequences. Now the violin melodies are based on Vivaldi's Spring III, and the vocal melodies on the final 1/3 of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. The synth part now plays the tone row, with the fretless bass and left hand piano playing a pedal E and the right hand of the piano improvising around the chords. Now the loops are of 2, 3, 5 and 7 bars (the first 4 prime numbers), adding to 17, and again the same mechanism of selectively muting the loops is used to form the piece. At this point MkInyel is finally completely away with The Fairies.
(Production: Planet Zyz)
Season: Summer Compass Point: South Element: Air Temperament: Sanguine
Musical References: MkInyel: Spring Suite Vivaldi: Summer Scelsi: Uaxauctum.
Oley Me Tin(n)ks (aka: Faith Brackenbury) recruited three more extraordinary female jazz artists to make her ensemble, Sleenky Itomn. They are: Baritone Sax: K T Meennsoily (aka: Alicia Gardener-Trejo), Keyboard: Sky Monelnite (aka: Stella Roberts), Drums: Om Nnitskeley (aka: Lydia Glanville).
These versions of Summer Suite are live recordings made on 7/8/17 (National Sisters Day) at the Four Susans Launch Event at Centrala, Birmingham. (see 'The Four Susans Launch Video')
Image: Omenn Skylite
Oley says: "In Summer One I have tried to infuse the essence of MkInyel's Spring Suite as well as incorporate part of the 5-7-5 haiku linked stipulation, by means of time signature. I found myself drawn to depict the temperament reference of Sanguine by the flowing 5/4 section."
Season: Summer Compass Point: South Element: Air Temperament: Sanguine
Musical References: MkInyel: Spring Suite Vivaldi: Summer Scelsi: Uaxauctum.
Oley says: "In Summer Two, I wanted to depict the element reference of Air, thus breathing heard at the beginning and end, on vocals and saxophone. The structure of the piece then took on Scelsi's tone oscillation ideas, the instruments warping the single note G in octaves.The final repeated section is a 5 bar cycle in 5/4 using 5ths, 7ths then 5ths to reference the haiku form, which crescendoes and introduces phrases ad lib imitating the Scelsi Uaxauctum."
Image: Omenn Skylite
Season: Summer Compass Point: South Element: Air Temperament: Sanguine
Musical References: MkInyel: Spring Suite Vivaldi: Summer Scelsi: Uaxauctum.
Oley says:
"In Summer Three I took the time stipulation of 5 minutes/ 300 seconds which when divided by 17, referencing the hiaku form, gave 17.647...Then taking the notes and harmony of every 17th bar of Vivaldi's Summer the piece is 17 harmonic pauses of 17 seconds long with each soloist in turn improvising on only the melodic notes in the bar. The mathematics did leave an 11 second remainder which we decided to leave as a pause on the last pause, finishing on exactly 300 seconds, or 5 minutes."
Image: Omenn Skylite
Season: Autumn Compass Point: West Element: Earth Temperament: Melancholic
Musical References: Me Tin(n)ks: Summer Suite Vivaldi: Autumn Seegar: Suite No 2 for Piano and Strings
When she joined ‘Sleenky Itomn’, Alicia Gardener-Trejo fell into The Four Susans farrago and was, by all accounts, bemused. So much so she agreed to be the fourth composer in the seasonal cycle, and deliver the Autumn music, accepting the alias KT Meennsoily as part of the deal, surprisingly. She created these vibrant pieces for a saxophone duo. These recordings are demos, made with simple ambient microphones at the first performance of Autumn to an audience, at In Good Hands, Shrewsbury on Friday 13th July 2018. KT is on baritone sax, and Olivia Murphy is on tenor sax, both extraordinary rising stars.
Image: Omenn Skylite
Season: Autumn Compass Point: West Element: Earth Temperament: Melancholic
Musical References: Me Tin(n)ks: Summer Suite Vivaldi: Autumn Seegar: Suite No 2 for Piano and Strings
Image: Omenn Skylite
Season: Autumn Compass Point: West Element: Earth Temperament: Melancholic
Musical References: Me Tin(n)ks: Summer Suite Vivaldi: Autumn Seegar: Suite No 2 for Piano and Strings
Image: Omenn Skylite
The Four Susans Words, so far
Created in early 2017, in this radio play Leo Nitemynks' story of The Four Susans begins and the main characters are introduced. Nitemynks performs his work, as Sikment Loyne, Kolee ?Ynnit(Ms) and The Narrator. Susan Sarong is featured (an earlier version) as is parts of MkInyel's Spring 1 and Me Tin(n)ks' Prelewd
(Production: Planet Zyz)
Here is Leo Nitemynks reading through what at that point (October 2018) was Chapter 1 of The Four Susans play/book/musical/happening/thingy-whatsit/whatever it becomes. It was Harrison Birtwistle that said "an Artist is creating the same piece for their whole life", and Silent Monkey take that idea and run with it.
Here is Nitemynks reading through what at that point (February 2018) was working towards the Winter section of the of the thingy whatsit.
Here is Nitemynks reading through what at that point (February 2018) was working towards the Autumn section of the espresso fuelled farrago.