Patrycja Orzechowska

concept & words: Patrycja Orzechowska
soprano: Aleksandra Klimczak
recording & sound engineering: Piotr Pawlak
translation: Piotr Mierzwa

A small stream of water flows near the spot where Lament is presented—the Siedlce Brook, part of which runs along the main axis of the district. This small water course was referred to as Gdania in the Middle Ages, which is probably where the name “Gdańsk” came from. The channelled Siedlce Brook is currently but a narrow line in the local water and sewage system forming the underground part of the city.

The 7-kilometre brook flows through Siedlce in an underground canal, completely invisible. Yet during the Middle Ages, the stream was extremely important to inhabitants of Gdańsk: it provided water to numerous mills and was navigable. In the 16^th century, it became the source of potable water for residents, which was transported via an oak pipeline. Once the Radunia Channel was dug, however, the stream’s role dwindled. During heavy rain, the underground stream reminds citizens about its presence: the channel overflows, unable to hold so much water, and gushes out right in the middle of the city.

The artist grants a voice to the invisible river, which in Lament sings about its fate and imprisonment. The looped sound comes from a well that symbolizes a trap, living water and mystery. As a literary and musical form, the lament expresses grief, helplessness in the face of adversities of fate, and despair. Yet this melancholy, nostalgic vocal miniature—sometimes taking on the form of a protest song—is first of all a piece without notation, based on free improvisation.

The work was recorded in the historical Old Sobieski Water Tank. Owing to the unique acoustic properties of the place, the soundwave of the human voice resounded in all its spectrum, moving from singing and chanting to whispers and shouts. _{[narracje.eu]}