In susurrus\zemzemeh, recordings of water bodies are transcribed into notation for voice, performed by Sholeh Asgary. Consisting mostly of long notes, and with the help of electronics and synthesizers for those notes that are beyond human capability, the arrangement and layering of the notes create a sonic landscape that casts reflections of silence, dissonance, and possible occasional moments of harmony. Asgary explores illegibility, loss, and mutant transformation through the near-impossible task of performing voice for water. This work is inspired and developed through her ongoing research into indigenous Iranian underground aqueducts known as qanats and the lesser-known ancient practice of wedding them as an exploration of water scarcity, human displacement, and ecological loss within the context of intricate erotics and economies of reciprocity between human bodies and waterways.

1. susurrus / زمزمه (zemzemeh), 03:39 minutes

2. throb / ضربان (zarban), 04:53 minutes

3. fen / تالاب (talab), 05:37 minutes

4. deluge / سيلاب (seilab), 06:49 minutes

5. frond / برگ نخل (barge nakhl), 06:00 minutes

6. course / مسیر (masīr), 08:17 minutes

Iranian American sound/performance artist Sholeh Asgary and ECM recording artist/clarinetist David Rothenberg performed an evening of new music at Bergen Community College’s Gallery Bergen on November 3, 2023. susurrus / zemzemeh was a part of the exhibition at the gallery, The Cup Flows Over: Art from the Soul of Iran presenting the art of contemporary Iranian artists from Iran and the diaspora. In March 2025 a catalog of the show will be published.

Thanks to Tim Blunk and Robert Papp

published by Mysterious Mountain Music (BMI)
and Hajaliasgar (BMI)