Sygyt was written to highlight the vocal skills of Jonny Marks, a Wellington-based singer and sonic artist who, in addition to a background in experimental and metal music, spent a year studying traditional throat singing in Mongolia, which he then incorporated into his broader practice. Apart from one short passage, the piece does not refer to specific Mongolian melodies, instead being built around Jonny’s specific abilities, including harmonics and improvised vocalisations that lie outside traditional Mongolian practice.
Two main types of throat singing are featured: sygyt (high style) and kargyraa (low style). The ensemble acts as an ’echo chamber’ or ‘grand resonator’, developing harmonies from the soloist’s overtones to create a constantly shifting backdrop. Complex spectra emerge from the live electronics, which use bespoke spectral and granular algorithms to sustain and layer the voice and ensemble in real time. These fuse to form both rapidly shifting, dense textural clouds, as well as broad, stratified horizons of sound, suggestive of vistas and timescales of distant environments.
Sygyt was premiered by Stroma (cond. Hamish McKeich) and Jonny Marks on 16 November 2017 at City Gallery Wellington. It received the 2018 SOUNZ Contemporary Award.