"Ceremony of the Bull" is the third section of a work-in-progress, Ariadne of Knossos, which is a theatrical musical piece exploring the pre-Hellenic origins of the Ariadne myth. It is for mixed chorus (SSAATB) and string quartet. I have used lyrics from several languages, which reflect the many different strands of the Ariadne myth. This section is an evocation of the bull, which was sacred in Crete before the Greeks conquered it.

Ariadne of Knossos

Ceremony of the Bull

COME IN UNDER THE SHADOW OF THIS RED ROCK

MARY JANE LEACH is a composer/performer whose work reveals a fascination with the physicality of sound, its acoustic properties and how they interact with space. In many of her works Leach creates an other-worldly sound environment using difference, combination, and interference tones; these are tones not actually sounded by the performers, but acoustic phenomena arising from Leach’s deft manipulation of intonation and timbral qualities: “an acoustic Through the Looking Glass world based on sound that the performer is not making.” (The New Yorker).

Ceremony of the Bull

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