Sarah Davachi’s latest track, “Possente Spirto,” serves as the lead single from her upcoming album The Head as Form’d in the Crier’s Choir. This release, her first official album in two years, is set to drop on September 13 under her own imprint, Late Music. The double-disc album marks the tenth release of new music on this label.
“Possente Spirto” begins with a minimalistic build, where string elements create a shifting, melodic mood. These strings gradually give way to electronic synth tones that build and shape the track, blending an ambient vibe with classical sensibility. The track is a loose conceptual reference to the aria “Possente spirto, e formidabil nume” from Monteverdi’s l’Orfeo. Similar to Monteverdi’s composition, Davachi’s version emphasizes the use of strings and brass, adhering to a specific order for their entrances and exits, while maintaining a continuous framework.
The composition focuses on a slow-moving chord progression and its variations in voicing, inspired by Renaissance concepts of harmony as a vertical structure. It employs a standard quarter-comma meantone temperament and follows a structure typical of Davachi’s chamber writing, where each performance iteration is slightly different, encouraging players to engage in real-time listening and response.
As a composer and performer of electroacoustic music, Sarah Davachi’s work delves into the intricacies of timbral and temporal space. She employs extended durations and carefully constructed harmonic structures that emphasize gradual variations in texture, overtone complexity, and psychoacoustic phenomena. Her compositions span solo, chamber ensemble, and acousmatic formats, utilizing a diverse range of acoustic and electronic instruments. Influenced by minimalist and longform principles, early music concepts of form, affect, and intervallic harmony, and experimental production practices, Davachi’s sound offers an intimate and patient listening experience.
Davachi has toured extensively worldwide, sharing stages with artists such as Ellen Arkbro, Oren Ambarchi, Grouper, William Basinski, and Charlemagne Palestine. Her tenure at the National Music Centre in Canada between 2007 and 2017 allowed her to develop a profound understanding of acoustic and electronic keyboard instruments. She has held artist residencies at prestigious institutions like the Banff Centre for the Arts and Elektronmusikstudion.
Currently, Davachi is a doctoral candidate in musicology at UCLA, focusing on timbre, phenomenology, and critical organology. Based in Los Angeles, California, she continues to push the boundaries of electroacoustic music, creating compositions that are both deeply engaging and thought-provoking.
