Preview: Innocent Blood for mezzo, chorus, flute, and organ
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Innocent Blood for mezzo, chorus, flute, and organ
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SKU: S0.575627
Composed by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP). 21st Century,Renaissance. Score,Set of Parts. 76 pages. Published by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) (S0.575627).Experience history through this powerful, moving true story of the composer's eight great-grandmother, Mary Esty, falsely accused of witchcraft and hanged in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.
Just nominated for Best Original Composition for 2018-19 by Austin Critics Table!
Innocent Blood by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)
for mezzo-soprano solo, mixed chorus, flute and optional bass flute, and organ
Concert version includes some gestures and staging,
Duration about 18-20 minutes
Original text for A Contemplation of God: Massachusetts Bay 1692 by Catherine Colvin
Excerpts of Verbatim Transcriptions of Court Records of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, edited by Catherine Colvin are used in "Examination of Mary Easty" and "Petition from Prison."
On May 13, 2019, Austin (Texas) Critics Table announced that Innocent Blood by Adrienne Inglis was nominated for best Original Composition/Score for 2018-19. Inversion Ensemble’s concert I, Too, Sing America, the concert on which it was performed, was nominated for best Concert/Opera performance for 2018-19.
Note: Mary Esty of Topsfield, Massachusetts, was the composer’s eighth-great-grandmother, a 58-year-old married mother of seven. She was falsely accused of witchcraft and hanged September 22, 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. Innocent Blood, a choral work with mezzo soprano soloist, mixed chorus, flute/bass flute, and organ tells Mary's tragic story. Catherine Colvin's beautifully crafted metered poem A Contemplation of God: Massachusetts Bay 1692 gives voice to the political upheaval, social unrest, and religious angst that characterized the colony in 1692. The collapse of the original colonial charter in 1684, the imposition of the unpopular Dominion of New England charter, the overthrow of King James II by William of Orange in 1688, and the imposition in 1691 of yet another charter that restricted local rule and religious laws, all contributed to the collective dread. An influx of refugees from the King William's War to the north, plus ongoing conflicts with Native Americans, rival families, failed crops, and wolves, created great fear and anxiety in Salem Village. The distress suffered led to increased fear of Satan's hand in their community. The setting of transcribed court records recreates dramatic April 22, 1692 trial that sends her to jail. Mary Esty's eloquent petition to Governor William Phips is a duet with the mezzo soloist and bass flute. The work closes with grief and regret shown by the community, a poignant farewell and prayer as Mary Esty says goodbye to her family, and a chilling conclusion as the bailiff leads her offstage to the gallows in silence. The Bay Psalm Book published in 1698 contains the hymns commonly sung by Puritans in their devotionals at home. The following tunes weave through the movements: Windsor, Cambridge, and St. David's.A chamber opera version will be published soon.
Listen to the Oct. 7, 2018 performance by Mezzo Soprano Page Stephens, flutist Adrienne Inglis, organist Sheryl Stack and Inversion Ensemble with director Trevor F. Shaw:
https://soundcloud.com/adrienne-inglis/innocent-blood-by-adrienne-inglis-ascap-1
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