Commissioning note

 

With thanks to the inimitable Fresh Squeezed Opera for commissioning Invocation as part of "The Female Gaze"

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Programme note

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Invocation intertwines lines from two ancient Egyptian magical hymns. The original hymns are syncretic fusions of Roman-Egyptian polytheistic beliefs and rituals and early Christian and Gnostic beliefs.

 

One hymn is a supplication to Hecate, an ancient goddess of the night, moon, wilderness, liminal spaces, and protector of the newly-born. Pre-dating Greek mythology, Hecate was originally thought of as a powerful goddess and protector of women with her own cult of worshippers and eunuchs. The hymn is a paean featuring expiatory offerings of foods and sacrifices.

 

The other hymn is startlingly threatening in tone. It demands that the supplicant’s desires are met, and its lines form a curse. The focus is cold and commanding, and the tone is menacing. The singer insists that if his will is not done, “tomorrow will not come”. With Invocation I wanted to set the hymns' inverse power dynamics within and against each other.

 

Over time, representations of Hecate shifted, and she eventually came to be a chthonic hag associated with evil, witchcraft, magic, and necromancy. Her name appears on surviving examples of stone tablets inscribed with curses.

 

While writing Invocation I was thinking about how a powerful pre-Hellenistic goddess could be reduced to a hag commanded by mortal beings.

 

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Electronic setup​

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To play the fixed electronics, you will need:

 

• A Macbook with free QLab software (there is currently no PC/tablet/iPad version of QLab)

• A MIDI foot pedal (an electronic piano expression/sustain pedal won't work) and cable to connect it to the laptop

• Stereo speakers and mixing desk

• Audio interface and cables from laptop to mixing desk

 

For amplification (required)

 

• Directional microphones

• Microphone stands

• XLR cables connecting the microphones to the mixing desk

• Speakers