Séance

by Tomi Räisänen

bassoon solo & tape

Description

A séance is a spiritual gathering in which a medium attempts to receive messages from the beyond. Contacting spirits has a long history, with necromancy being popular until the late Middle Ages. During the Enlightenment, belief in summoning the dead started to decline significantly. However, the modern séance sessions reappeared in the United States around the mid-19th century and continue to have a following today.

In these new séance sessions, a technique known as "spirit rapping" was used to communicate with the departed. During these sessions, the medium would invite spirits to respond to questions by knocking on wood. This piece begins with sounds reminiscent of "spirit rapping". Following this introduction, the soloist performs incantations inspired by some classic spell phrases such as "hocus pocus," "abracadabra," and "simsala bim." Occasionally, the soloist successfully summons spirits, allowing us to hear (and even see) them "speak", in this case, through bassoon multiphonics. Ultimately, the incantations of our "medium-soloist" must have worked well, as they summoned a wild bacchanale of ghosts. TR, 2025

Instrumentation

bsn, tape

Category

Works for Solo Instrument

Premiere

First performance on August 1, 2025, at the Crusell Music Festival, Uusikaupunki, Finland by Mikko-Pekka Svala

Commisioned by / dedications

Dedicated to Mikko-Pekka Svala. Commissioned with funds from Teosto.

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More

• More info & tape parts: https://www.tomiraisanen.com/works/séance

Archive number

MF36153

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