Work Inspiration / Programme note
Sing Her Body Gold is inspired by Edwin Long pain ing The Babylonian Marriage Market (1875) The painting portays a marriage market in which unmarried girls were gathered up and an official announcer is raising up the women, one after another to be auctioned off. In the foreground are twelve women, each of different posture and looks, waiting to be presented as potential brides.
The painting presents various stages of the market, different points of view are undertaken and the viewers perspective is inevitably challenged. Immedia el o e d a n o he women in the foreground waiting to sold off to the crowds of men in the background. The painting guides the viewer to fixate on the female body, the text is struck by how the male gaze could be considered in how these women were depicted, and what form it took. The gold light encompassed the women of the left, supposedly most attractive, compared to t he shadowed right-hand side where the supposedly less attractive women sat.
The painting was strewn with veils, layers, jewelry, pearls. Yet the way that the women waiting to be sold gazed back at the viewer, (the most central women particularly), with s uch a vulnerability made me feel like they possessed a kind of unseen liberation. In response to a pain ing po a ing omen bodie being mone i ed, I an ed o i e abo ha n een: that strength; the light that blazed no matter how much adversity th e women faced.
The score tries to both portray the intimacy of the text and tumultuous atmosphere of the market. To make the listener hear the space the score draws attention to the foreground, middle ground and background of the painting. There is a sense of movement characterized b he oman line p and the nature of the market, that develops into a feeling of stillness and subjectivity is then encountered
Singing techniques are also varied in this piece, it was important that each member played a specific role to represent a particular aspect in the meaning of the text. The aim was to convey the painting through the text rather than the story itself. Indeed , the text is set in a way that the audience can respond freely to what they hear, either by focusing on the singular voices or by embracing the waves of sounds.
calmo ma tenebroso
Sing Her Body Gold
Score by Joaquin Freccia
Words by Jennifer Howitt
soprano solo, spoken part, quite theatrical, don't rush.
= 56 sim.
you cannot see beyond the clouds, or dawn that creases through her shrouds, she places hands onto her face, and turns into a different place
her, her, her,
her, dy, bo her bo dy, her bo dy, her
her, her, her,
her, her,
of pearl a string be sold soon to is bo dy her
to her
5 B. 2 Bass 2 B. 1 Bass 1 Bar. Baritone T. Tenor A. Alto S. Soprano a
2
bo dy her her, her, her,
dy, bo her dy, her bo dy, bo her but
her, her, her, bo dy, her dy, her bo dy, bo her
hold ly you tight sold be to soon
sold be to soon is dy her bo of pearl a string
to her a
you is bo dy her hold ly you tight
11 8 B. 2 B. 2 B. 1 B. 1 Bar. Bar. T. T. A. A. S. S.
her you
her her dy, bo her dy, bo her dy, bo her
dy, bo her dy, bo her dy, bo her her her
limb her pull you though start growing slowly
hold ly tight you pearl of a string sold be soon to dy, bo her dy, bo her dy, bo her
you a to is dy bo her
dy, bo her dy, bo her dy, bo her own not can you limb from
3
17 14 B. 2 B. 2 B. 1 B. 1 Bar. Bar. T. T. A. A. S. S.
her
dy, bo her dy, bo her dy, bo her
grow faster untill b.27
her her dy, bo her dy, bo her dy, bo her
dy, bo her dy, bo her dy, bo her her her her
sold be soon to dy, bo her dy, bo her dy, bo her
in with light her drammatic,
to her pull you though but
to own not can you limb from limb her
drammatic,
sold be soon to is dy bo her pull you though but
own not can you limb from limb her
23 20 B. 2 B. 2 B. 1 B. 1 Bar. Bar. T. T. A. A. S. S.
4
her as air less bound her her,
soprano solo, spoken part, tempo primo
dy bo her air less bound bo dy her
her, her, dy bo her air static, creating subtle waves of sounds
in with her light as air less bound dy bo her
she places hands onto her face, and turns into a different place
in with her light as bound her her,
5
30 26 B. 2 B. 2 B. 1 B. 1 Bar. Bar. T. T. A. A. S. S.
air less bound bo dy her
spair de caged of chains dures en limb, her pull you though but
chains the dures en limb pull you though
spair de of caged you you though but
de of you but
the en limb her her, pull
6
spair de of caged chains the dures en limb, her pull you
spair de caged chains
chains dures en her pull
spair de caged of you though
38 34 B. 2 B. 2 B. 1 B. 1 Bar. Bar. T. T. A. A. S. S.
limb pull
not can you limb from in with light her her, her, own
can you her, own
limb from limb from in with light her her, own
not can you from from
limb from limb
7
limb from limb
not can you her, her, own
limb from limb from in with light her
46 42 B. 2 B. 2 B. 1 B. 1 Bar. Bar. T. T. A. A. S. S.
in with light her
8
sussurrando
3 3 3
3 3 3 3 3 3
in with a light see not can you in with light a
in with a light see can not you in with light a
light a
3 3 3 3 3 3
with in
rings ly et qui in with a light seize not can you
3 3
3 3
rings ly et qui in with a light seize not can you
in with a light see not can you in with light a 3 3 3 3
in with a light see not can you with a light seize not can you
in with light a yond be
rings ly et qui in
53 50 B. 2 B. 2 B. 1 B. 1 Bar. Bar. T. T. A. A. S. S.
rings ly et qui in with a light seize not can you 3
sing ly loud so you what yond be ly sing loud so you what yond be
sing ly loud so you what be yond sing ly lound so you what yond be ly sing loud so you what yond be
yond be sing ly loud so you what yond be sing ly loud so you what ly sing loud so you what sing ly loud so you what yond be
focus on vowels colours
ly loud so you what yond be ly sing loud so you what yond be sing ly loud so you what
ly loud so you what yond be sing ly loud so you
9
sing ly so loud you what yond be rall. molto near the end
so you what yond be sing what sing ly loud
sing ly loud so you
60 56 B. 2 B. 2 B. 1 B. 1 Bar. Bar. T. T. A. A. S. S.
so you what yond be sing what sing ly loud
