for 5 megaphones, violin, cello, bass clarinet, percussion, electronic music, audio-playback and video 

commissioned by Plus-Minus Ensemble & Warsaw Autumn Festival

written for Plus-Minus Ensemble 

music and video by Monika Dalach Sayers

 

'Shout 1-3'  is a multi-layered multimedia composition consisting of electro-acoustic music, performative actions, and video. The work is inspired by 'Shout', a song performed by British band Tears for Fears, released in the UK on 23 November 1984. The song is considered to be one of the most successful protest songs and one of the biggest hits of the eighties. 'Shout' is also a song that I strongly associate with my early childhood in a period of the growing popularity of MTV. In the early nineties, the song and its characteristic sound were present in my home almost every day. Over time, the song gained a more personal status, becoming the bridge between the past and the present. About twenty-five years after its release, the song gained new recognition throughout the MTV series Skins. Nowadays, the song is still valid, proving the timelessness and universalism of the music and its message. 

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'Shout' has roots in Primal Scream Therapy, which worked by getting people to confront their fears by shouting and screaming. The piece aimed to encourage people to speak aloud about things that they find disturbing. The treatment became popular among artists, including John Lennon, and was one of the inspirations for Tears for Fears to compose the classic hit song. 

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In 'Shout 1-3', Monika Dalach Sayers playfully reimagines the song motifs, works with the aesthetics of the '80s, and plays with the gestures performed while shouting. Sonically, the work reimagines 'Shout' as an '80s pop hit and deconstructs the song, transforming it into a brand new piece.

 

The world premiere of Shout 1-3 took place during the International Festival of Contemporary Music Warsaw Autumn, on the 20th September 2019 at the Warsaw Philharmonic. ​

 

Watch trailer here: