Hidden in Plain Sight by Elisa Lemma
Hidden in Plain Sight. Sonata for Many Voices by Elisa Lemma was published in early 2025. The publication explores a community-based, inclusive approach to classical music listening and was designed by Wibke Bramesfeld to function as an open archive. The metal file fastener holds the pages together, allowing for the addition of more content as the dialogue grows, thus acting as a living document that evolves with further iterations. It was launched on January 14th, 2025, at Libreria Anarres in Milan. The publication is typeset in HAL Timezone, published by HAL Typefaces, with support from Victorianna by Velvetyne.
Description of the project from publisher HumDrumPress:
What do we hear when we listen to classical music? Coloured chords? Giant drops
and secret doors? Rolling cats and frantic moths? Hidden in plain sight. Sonata for many voices is the ongoing research attempt towards a commons-based and inclusive attention practice for classical music listening. Listeners with all kinds of backgrounds and musical experience (and especially none) met over the course of eight months to shape a collective practice where music perception was shared and interpreted with the same, undivided attention that it takes to learn a new language.This publication invites its readers to engage in the conversations and findings of the participants who took part in this research project, as well as giving space to contribute to a growing collection of perceptions, ideas and sensitivities.
