Nine Invocations: I. KALLIOPE (Orphic Hymn) (2025) for alto flute, clarinet in B-flat (doubling bass clarinet), vibraphone, violin, viola, and cello
by Patrick Holcomb

Nine Invocations © 2025 by N. Patrick Holcomb. All rights reserved.

Performance by the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble (Antonina Styczen, alto flute; Ian McEdwards, clarinet in B-flat and bass clarinet; Xin Yi Chong, vibraphone; Maya Irizarry Lambright, violin; Felix Veser, viola; and Miles Reed, cello) and Tim Weiss, conductor

Program Note:

Nine Invocations (2025) is a set of short pieces inspired by the Muses of Greek mythology. By the Classical period, the Muses—the nine daughters of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory—had come to be associated with specific arts and sciences. Each Muse provides inspiration to mortals pursuing activities within their respective domains. 

I wrote Nine Invocations in condensed work sessions between teaching classes at Hofstra University and completing the dissertation requirements for my doctorate at the Eastman School of Music. Each movement is based on a sonic image inspired by the associations of or the mythology surrounding a particular Muse. It was as though I channeled the Muses one by one, and each provided the impetus for an Invocation that led me to write at a much faster pace than I am used to. As I near the completion of my terminal degree, the piece’s subject matter is also a nod to my first composition teacher of my undergraduate studies, Dana Wilson, whose nine-movement piece Musings for horn and piano also evokes the Muses. 

The nine Invocations are as follows:

I. KALLIOPE (Orphic Hymn): Described by Hesiod as the foremost Muse, eldest sister Kalliope governs eloquence and epic poetry. The mythic musician Orpheus is often identified as Kalliope’s son. One of the hymns attributed to Orpheus invokes the Muses and describes their roles as catalysts for mortals’ artistic and scientific pursuits. 

II. TERPSIKHORE (Congregation of Grasshoppers): According to Plato, some grasshoppers after their deaths report to Terpsikhore, the Muse of dance, on the activities of mortal dancers.   

III. EUTERPE (Windsong): Some cite Euterpe as the inventor of the aulos, or double flute. Artistic renditions of the Muse of lyric poetry and music often portray her with a flute. 

IV. MELPOMENE (Threnody): According to some accounts, the Muse of tragedy Melpomene sings to mourn poets and other prominent figures after their deaths. 

V. THALEIA (Pastorale): Although she is usually cited as the Muse of comedy, Thaleia is also the patron of idyllic poetry.

VI. ERATO (Lacunae): The Muse Erato presides over erotic poetry. The sensual poetry of the legendary Sappho (dubbed the tenth Muse by Plato) survives only as fragments interspersed by tantalizing lacunae. 

VII. POLYHYMNIA (Sacred Geometry): Polyhymnia, the Muse of sacred poetry, is sometimes cited as the patron of geometry and meditation. She is often depicted with a serious, pensive demeanor. 

VIII. KLEIO (She Who Speaks with Ancient Voice): The Muse of history is Kleio, the Proclaimer. She is traditionally portrayed with a trumpet and a book or a scroll. 

IX. OURANIA (Infinite Tapestry): The night sky is the domain of the Muse of astronomy, heavenly Ourania.

Photo:

François de Dijon, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons; cropped

Nine Invocations: I. KALLIOPE (Orphic Hymn) (2025) for six players

Patrick Holcomb (b. 1996) is a composer based on Long Island. A member of Mensa since age nineteen, Holcomb seeks to write music that is both intellectually and emotionally engaging.  In his compositions, he makes frequent use of mensuration canons and ratios that govern recursive rhythmic and pitch relationships. He cites the time he spent studying Hindustani (North Indian) music and performing tabla and Indian harmonium under the guidance of Denise Nuttall (a student of Zakir Hussain) as one of his largest compositional influences.

Holcomb’s recent compositional honors include the 2022 ASCAP Rudolf Nissim Prize, a 2021 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, a 2021 American Prize in Composition, and a 2020 BMI Student Composer Award. His solo piano pieces Rapture After Schoenberg and Kandinsky and Carousel After Milhaud and Archipenko were composed on the occasion of Harmony and Dissonance: Orphism in Paris, 1910–1930, which showed from November 8, 2024 through March 9, 2025 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. In addition to concert music, Holcomb also composes for visual media. His score for the 1925 silent documentary Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life accompanied the film during its showings at the Museum of Modern Art in October and November 2023 as a part of the series Iranian Cinema Before the Revolution, 1925–1979. His music has also been featured at the Aspen Music Festival And School (in 2025), the ARTZenter Institute Emerging Composer Grant Project (in 2023), the American Composers Orchestra EarShot New Music Readings (in 2022), June in Buffalo (in 2022), the RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Workshop (in 2022), the Bowdoin International Music Festival (in 2021), the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute and Festival (in 2019), and Connecticut Summerfest (in 2017 and 2018).

Holcomb earned his PhD in Composition from the University of Rochester Eastman School of Music, which he attended as a Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull University Fellow, in 2025. He also received an MM in Music Composition and an MM in Music Scoring for Visual Media from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2021. Holcomb completed his undergraduate studies at Ithaca College, from which he graduated top of his class in the School of Music (now a part of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance) with a BM in Music Composition in 2018. His primary teachers included Claude Baker, Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann, Larry Groupé, Robert Morris, Eugene O’Brien, Evis Sammoutis, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Tom Schneller, Aaron Travers, Dana Wilson, and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon.

In addition to composing, Holcomb is also a passionate educator. He is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music at Hofstra University.

Profile photo by Meredith Hart.

Nine Invocations: I. KALLIOPE (Orphic Hymn) (2025) for six players

Patrick Holcomb, composer