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Work


Invocation

for amplified soprano, cello, piano, and fixed electronics

Year:  2018   ·  Duration:  10m

Year:  2018
Duration:  10m

Composer:   Gemma Peacocke

Films, Audio & Samples

Sample Score

Sample: pages 1–4 of score

See details ➔

Borrow/Hire:

To borrow items or hire parts please email SOUNZ directly at info@sounz.org.nz.

About

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.


ELECTRONIC SETUP

You will need:

To play the fixed electronics:

  • A laptop with free QLab software (there is currently no 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


Commissioned note

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


Text note

Text is from two ancient Egyptian magical hymns