Chamber Music Bass
Clarinet, Bassoon,
Clarinet, English Horn,
Oboe, alto Saxophone,
soprano Saxophone
SKU:
PR.114419980
Composed
by Stacy Garrop. Sws. Set
of Score and Parts.
32+16+16+16+16+16 pages.
Duration 16 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#114-41998. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.114419980).
UPC:
680160681723. 9 x 12
inches.
The ancient
Egyptian empire began
around 3100 B.C. and
continued for over 3000
years until Alexander the
Great conquered the
country in 332 B.C. Over
the centuries, the
Egyptian empire grew and
flourished into a highly
developed society. They
invented hieroglyphics,
built towering pyramids
(including the Great
Pyramid of Giza, the
oldest of the Seven
Wonders of the World),
and the created many
household items we still
use today, including
toothbrushes, toothpaste,
eyeliner, black ink, and
the forerunner of
modern-day paper.
Included among their
achievements were a
series of highly
developed funerary
practices and beliefs in
the Afterlife. As the
average lifespan of an
Egyptian hovered around
30 years, living past the
death of oneAs physical
body was a legitimate
concern. Egyptians
believed that upon death,
their souls would
undertake a harrowing
journey through the
Netherworld. If they
survived the horrific
creatures and arduous
trials that awaited them,
then their souls would be
reunified with their
bodies (hence the need to
preserve the body through
mummification) and live
forever in a perfect
version of the life they
had lived in Egypt. To
achieve this, Egyptians
devised around 200
magical spells and
incantations to aid souls
on the path to the
Afterlife. These spells
are collectively called
The Book of the Dead.
Particular spells would
be chosen by the family
of the deceased and
inscribed on the tombAs
walls and scrolls of
papyrus, as well as on a
stone scarab placed over
the deceasedAs heart.
Subsequent collections of
spells and mortuary
texts, such as The Book
of Gates, assisted a soul
in navigating the twelve
stages of the
Netherworld. Not only did
these spells protect and
guide the soul on this
dangerous path, but they
also served as a
safeguard against any
unbecoming behavior an
Egyptian did while alive.
For instance, if a person
had robbed another while
alive, there was a spell
that would prevent the
soulAs heart from
revealing the truth when
in the Hall of Judgment.
Rites for the Afterlife
follows the path of a
soul to the Afterlife. In
Inscriptions from the
Book of the Dead
(movement 1), the soul
leaves the body and
begins the journey,
protected by spells and
incantations written on
the tombAs walls. In
Passage though the
Netherworld (movement 2),
the soul is now on a
funerary barque, being
towed through the
Netherworld by four of
the regionAs inhabitants.
We hear the soul slowly
chanting incantations as
the barque encounters
demons, serpents,
crocodiles, lakes of
fire, and other terrors.
The soul arrives at The
Hall of Judgment in
movement 3. Standing
before forty-two divine
judges, the soul
addresses each by name
and gives a A!negative
confessionA(r) connected
to each judge (i.e. A!I
did not rob,A(r) A!I did
not do violence,A(r) and
so on). Afterwards, the
soulAs heart is put on a
scale to be weighed
against a feather of
MaAat, the goddess of
truth. If the heart
weighs more than the
feather, it will be eaten
by Ammut, a hideous
creature that lies in
wait below the scale, and
the soul will die a
second and permanent
death (this was the worst
fear of the Egyptians).
But if the heart is in
balance with the feather,
the soul proceeds onward.
The final stage of the
journey is the arrival at
The Field of Reeds
(movement 4), which is a
perfect mirror image of
the soulAs life in
ancient Egypt. The soul
reunites with deceased
family members, makes
sacrifices to the
Egyptian gods and
goddess, harvests crops
from plentiful fields of
wheat under a brilliant
blue sky, and lives
forever next to the
abundant and nourishing
waters of the Nile. Rites
for the Afterlife was
commissioned by the
Barlow Endowment on
behalf of the Akropolis
Reed Quintet, Calefax
Reed Quintet, and the
Brigham Young University
Reed Quintet. -S.G.
