Voodoo Child

Liza LIM
Born 1966, Perth, Australia

Voodoo Child (1989)

soprano solo, flute/piccolo, clarinet, violin, violoncello, trombone, piano, percussion
Commissioned by Radio Bremen for the 1990 Pro Musica Nova Festival
Published by Ricordi, catalogue 135688

Voodoo Child is a setting of two stanzas from Sappho's poem To a Young Girl.

But my tongue is frozen, and at once a delicate fire flickers under my skin. I no longer see anything with my eyes, and my ears are full of strange sounds.

Sweat pours down me, and trembling Seizes me all over. I am paler than grass, And I seem to be little short of death.

The imagined sound of the ancient Greek text (whose pronunciation is a matter for conjecture) was the propelling force for the way in which I dealt with the diverse instrumentation. I tried to set up many points of contact and ambiguity between the singer and the instruments in a timbral spectrum ranging from `pure´ tone to distorted noise. As such, the ensemble sings together as a complex organism, each part an indivisible aspect of the sounding of the poetry. Voodoo Child seeks to find an analogue to Sappho's spell of love and lust -- a dizzying world of hot and cold sensations prickling under the skin -- the roar of blood and thought coursing through one's ears -- uncontrollable shaking -- and the claustrophobic, choking inarticulacy of these feelings.

Programme note © Liza LIM
Prose translation by Constantine A. Trypanis

First performance was 12 May 1990 by Ensemble Avance, Andras Hamary conductor, Ingrid Schmithusen soprano.