Can you hear me now?

Tom Service introduces some of the latest sounds in new music including Aletheia, a work for wordless choir, by the Lithuanian composer Žibuoklė Martinaitytė. Written following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she says: 'Voice is our first and the very last instrument we have in our lifetime.... from the very first baby’s scream until the last breath and whisper...I was imagining that the only instrument people have even in situations of destruction, in the midst of war, is their VOICE.' Also in the programme is the premiere at Aberdeen soundfestival of Ruth Morley's Reef, her reaction to the discovery by marine biologists that 'Damaged reef systems will regenerate faster when recordings of a healthy reef are played in the area.' And also from Aberdeen soundfestival comes Karen Power's Can you hear me now? a work that explores language as 'pure communication', with its roots in animal sounds and nature. It employs Karen's aural scores and parts, 'as alternate methods of communication with performers within the context of working with sounds/materials from outside of the Western Art Tradition'.