Sotto Voce by Claire Deak

released October 6, 2023

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Originally released on Lost Tribe Sound. See Catalog: losttribesound.bandcamp.com
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TOP TEN AMBIENT OF 2023 - "This is clearly Deak’s vision: an occasionally speculative and consistently imaginative dive into the music of Baroque composers Francesca Caccini (1587-c.1645) and Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)" - (Richard Allen) A CLOSER LISTEN

23 FAVOURITES FROM 2023 - Video Interview with Claire Deak: themoderns.blog/2023/11/11/discussions-claire-deak/ - THE MODERNS

THE 10 BEST ALBUM ARTWORKS OF 2023 - "The world that Claire Deak creates on Sotto Voce is a dense web of mysticism. She swirls over 12 instruments into an entrancing web of sound. The cover art might not seem typically fit for an album, but this record is an exception. It’s high art from top to bottom." - (Tom Taylor) FAR OUT MAGAZINE

2023 IN REVIEW: MODERN & POST CLASSICAL - "The album is an aural feast that feels as warm & organic as it does beguilingly mysterious, a remarkable achievement that begs to be heard repeatedly with new secrets to reveal on each listen." - STATIONARY TRAVELS

FAVORITE AMBIENT ALBUMS OF 2023 - LOW LIGHT MIXES

"It's a considered, thoroughly modern neoclassical tribute to these unsung heroines, with Deak conducting quite the ensemble." - THE SLOW MUSIC MOVEMENT

"Sotto Voce comes alive in the drama, but the vulnerability at its core lingers and never lets us go. A stunning debut. - (Brad Rose) FOXY DIGITALIS

"Masterfully fuses chamber music with the dronic expression of a society in the midst of becoming without a guide" - MARVIN MAGAZINE

"The music feels, at times, to be battling the entropy of erasure, struggling to be heard amid the cacophony of these overstimulated times. For that reason alone, it’s necessary to invest your attention and listen closely. The experience is eerie and transportive." - (Tim Clarke) DUSTED MAGAZINE

"a dark, cinematic, melancholic and, above all, narcotic whole. It is a musical history lesson seen through the eyes of today" - (Jan Willem Broek) DE SUBJECTIVISTEN

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Total Run Time: 41:26 minutes

Composed and produced by Claire Deak, using historic traces of early Baroque composers Francesca Caccini and Barbara Strozzi.

Recorded in a 19th-century wooden church on unceded Wurundjeri-Woi Wurrung Country.

Sotto Voce Consort: Lizzy Welsh, Judith Hamann, Edwina Cordingley, Tony Dupé, Lucy Valentine and Claire Deak.
Mixed by Tony Dupé
Mastered by Ian Hawgood
Artwork, layout and design by R. Keane (inspired by Artemisia Gentileschi, João Ruas, Andrei Tarkovsky, Kris Mort and Denis Forkas Kostromitin)
© Claire Deak / Lost Tribe Sound LLC
℗ Settled Scores LLC (ASCAP/APRA)

Titles and their borrowed origins:
Dolce Tormento—O Vive Rose (Caccini, 1618)
Liberated Sighs—Hor che Apollo (Strozzi, 1664)
In Defiance of Time–Sino Alla Morte (Strozzi, 1659)
Dampen The Waves—Lasciatemi Qui Solo (Caccini, 1618)
Quarrel of the Senses (Serenata)—Il Contrasto de’ cinque sensi (Strozzi, 1644)
The Fading Lovers—Gli Amante Filiti (Strozzi, 1644)
A Million Cloaked Ghosts was borrowed with permission from a post by Olia Hercules, 2022
Prefigured (Ritornello)—Il Lamento (Strozzi, originally 1651)

Musical traces borrowed:
Dolce Tormento & Liberated Sighs: Francesca Caccini: Io Mio Distruggo, Et Ardo from Il Primo Libro Delle Musiche (1618)

In Defiance of Time: Francesca Caccini: Io Veggio Campi Verdeggiar Fecondi from Il Primo Libro Delle Musiche (1618)

Dampen The Waves: Francesca Caccini: Lasciatemi Qui Solo from Il Primo Libro Delle Musiche (1618)

Quarrel of the Senses (Serenata): Barbara Strozzi: Serenata Con Violini in Hor che Apollo and Che Si Puo Fare both from Opus 8: Arie (1664) Francesca Caccini: Io Veggio Campi Verdeggiar Fecondi from Il Primo Libro Delle Musiche (1618)

The Fading Lovers: Barbara Strozzi: Serenata Con Violini in Hor che Apollo from Opus 8: Arie (1664)

A Million Cloaked Ghosts: (recycled iterations of In Defiance of Time)

Prefigured (Ritornello): Barbara Strozzi: Serenata Con Violini in Hor che Apollo from Opus 8: Arie (1664) which she borrowed from her own Il Lamento, published also in her Opus 2 (1651) and Opus 3 (1654). Barbara Strozzi: Che Si Puo Fare also from Opus 8: ‘Arie’ (1664).

Sotto Voce Consort:
Lizzy Welsh: baroque violin, viola d’amore, treble viola da gamba
Judith Hamman: modern cello
Tony Dupé: modern violin, viola, cello, contrabass
Edwina Cordingley: baroque cello
Lucy Valentine: lute
Claire Deak: vocals, harp, organ, piano accordion, piano, vibraphone, glockenspiel, mandolin, parlour guitar, bandura, clarinet, bass recorder, handbells, cymbals, organelle, transducers, tape manipulation

With thanks to:
Tony Dupé, Ryan Keane, Dr. Clare Maclean, Lizzy Welsh, Judith Hamann, Lucy Valentine, Edwina Cordingley, the Western Sydney University Graduate Research School, Ksenia Datsiuk and Daria Koltsova. Lastly, awe and gratitude to Francesca Caccini and Barbara Strozzi. I hope I have not further obscured your incredible artistic legacies, but honoured them.

RELEASE SCHEDULE:
Aug. 11th - Dolce Tormento
Sept. 1st - Quarrel of the Senses (Serenata)
Sept. 22nd - Fading Lovers
Oct. 6th - Full Album Release