Collaboration
with Lisa Tunnah
2003-2004
Musical Improvisation
Quadrology "THANATOS & EROS"
with "Voice Of EROS"
LiSA

(Electronic Classical / Vocals)


SONG No.1:
THANATOS Oppresses EROS Duet (1)

SONG No.2:
EROS Averts THANATOS Duet (2)

SONG No.3:
EROS Overcomes THANATOS Duet (3)

SONG No.4:
EROS Domineers THANATOS Duet (4)

After more than 40 years of experience in musical improvisation
I found, via the Internet, a talented female singer,
who was interested in helping with me more of this type of work.
She was ready to start improvising fantasy vocals right away
by singing around my song
"THANATOS & EROS 1".
She has done this with enthusiasm and a convincing empathetic voice.

In case you don't know, up to now, my music has been totally improvised
and recorded simultaneously, that means: the melody and background music
are created simultaneously & spontaneously.
The language used is an artificial language, a NON-language.
It sounds very often like Slavic or Russian language.
I call this type of music
TVI-Music:
Total Vocalistic Improvisation.


The song presented here is called:
"THANATOS & EROS - Duet No.1".
The original music was recorded in October 2001
and the new remix (Oct. 2003) contains singing -
representing the
VOICE of EROS - by the artist and singer
LiSA Tunnah aka LisaT.
 

LiSA is a singer & songwriter from the UK.
She has written in excess of 100 songs and has so far released 3 CD's.
She is a relative newcomer to the online mp3 community
and has so far achieved high positions with several of her songs
in the Soundclick internet charts.
She is becoming most well known
for her smooth vocal style and haunting melodies.

In LiSA's own words:
"When Volker (Philos) suggested our collaboration
with the
Thanatos and Eros Quadrology
I was at first a little taken aback, having had little exposure to improvisation.
However, on hearing the inherent beauty in the music of these songs
and Volker's gorgeous deep, rich vocal representation of Thanatos,
I was unable to refuse.
Eros was a wonderful part to undertake,
without having to rely on words to convey our message,
we instead deliver the complex relationship between these two remarkable,
mythological characters with pure emotion.
I was delighted with the end result,
and I believe we have created something very unique and very memorable".

LiSA on soundclick.com
 



The subject-matter "THANATOS & EROS" has been and continues to be,
analyzed & illustrated from a mythological and psychological perspective,
and of course, from other different artistic and musical points of view.
"EROS & THANATOS", "Love & Death" with their contrasting natures,
have attracted and fascinated countless
philosophers, theologians, poets and artists.

SIGMUND FREUD, for example, theorized that the duality of human nature
emerged from two basic instincts: Eros and Thanatos.
He saw in Eros the instinct for life, love and sexuality in its broadest sense,
and in Thanatos, the instinct of death and aggression.
Eros is the drive toward attraction and reproduction;
Thanatos toward repulsion and death.
One leads to the reproduction of the species,
the other toward its own destruction.
This has been a source of artistic inspiration for centuries.

STORY BEHIND THE SONG:
The paintings of the
German Passauer painter,
Gyurák Eva Schmidt,
inspired me to improvise and sing according to this theme
"THANATOS & EROS"
four classical songs suitably vocalized with background music
provided by the keyboard.

These are the four songs:
No. 1 - THANATOS oppresses EROS Duet
No. 2 - EROS averts THANATOS Duet
No. 3 - EROS overcomes THANATOS Duet
No. 4 - EROS domineers THANATOS Duet

After reading this introduction you may find it easier
to listen to the musical interpretation of this subject.
But admittedly this
first of the four songs
has a rather depressive and eerie feel to it.
This is because here
THANATOS is oppressing EROS.

Painting in oil