Vox Humana/Vox Celeste

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut bibendum tortor sit amet ligula rutrum, at porta tortor convallis ...

I find that trying to explain or speak about this piece to be quite clunky and not really encapsulating what I feel as the inspiration/concept, but for now it's as good as it gets. I'm sure that with days of editing and pondering and searching inwardly I'd be able to come up with something more erudite, but actually I just don't feel like it. It feels that putting it into words trivializes it, or something like that. However....

The title 'Vox Humana/Vox Celeste' comes from an antique pipe organ keyboard with tone controls that a friend salvaged for me from an alley near his home. It was fairly damaged, but nonetheless a very impressive piece, and quite old, although I'm not sure exactly how old. Of course I couldn't resist dismantling it immediately in order to recover the beautiful components, which included approximately a dozen circular tone control knobs on wooden rods, each one labelled according to how they adjusted the sound of the instrument. As well, the four ornate corner supports that had originally supported a broken shelf, possibly for setting sheet music on (the 'feet' and 'arms'?).

The title and rough approximate idea behind the piece come from the translation of the individual labels on the tone pushrods: 'Vox Humana' (human voice)and 'Vox Celeste' (celestial voice)....the idea that inside ourselves is a 'divine' or celestial 'voice' that is 'hidden', but always available for us to access and guide the 'human' voice that is perpetually front and centre (This is exemplified by the circular rings emanating outward from the body of the piece). The brass bells are the instruments by which the Vox Celeste carries or 'broadcasts' its message. Or something like that. It is much easier to conceive of the idea without words mucking it up.

Where it's been: 18 month tour of communities in Manitoba through the Manitoba Arts Network, 2021/2022.