The history of the witch and how it is presented in Freya Waley-Cohen’s music
A special focus on Waley-Cohen’s opera 'WITCH' and song-cycle 'Spell Book'
WITCH by Freya Waley-Cohen by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
How witches inspired Freya’s compositions
Themes of spells and witchcraft recur through Freya’s opera WITCH and her song-cycle Spell Book.
“I can’t remember how old I was when I first heard about my ancestor who was condemned to death in Salem for the crime of witchcraft…” Freya Waley-Cohen, The Guardian
a scene from WITCH by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
Connections across the centuries
“In my slightly egocentric and definitely whimsical teenage mind, I imagined her as another version of me. I imagined how scared she must have felt, but mostly pictured her as someone brave enough to risk standing out in 17th-century Salem.” Freya Waley-Cohen, The Guardian
a character from WITCH by Freya Waley-Cohen by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
What came first: the woman or the witch?
In early Jewish folklore, Lilith was the first woman, not Eve. After refusing to be subservient, she was cast out of Eden.
“God said: ‘You can either come back and submit to us, or you can be a demon forever’. So, she chose to be a demon”. Freya Waley-Cohen, Longborough blog
female characters in Waley-Cohen’s WITCH by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
Disobedient women
Lilith’s choice provided her with freedom, but it also ensured her immortalisation in Western culture as the first archetypal she-demon, held up as a cautionary tale to disobedient women everywhere – until now, perhaps.” Longborough blog
Sarah in WITCH by Freya Waley-Cohen by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
Freya’s Spell Book
Freya’s song cycle Spell Book sets text from British poet Rebecca Tamás’s 2019 collection WITCH.
“[Tamás’s] witch is a feminine archetype associated with creative power and the exploration of disruptive ideas.” The Adroit Journal
a witch’s point of view in opera by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
A witch’s-eye view
“I instantly identified with Rebecca’s way of wanting to look at the world through a witch’s eye. I’ve always been interested in the space between what we know and what we feel... [it] represents the playground between poetry and music”. Freya Waley-Cohen, Longborough blog
a dramatic scene in Freya Waley-Cohen’s WITCH by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
Freya’s WITCH
Tamás’s work also inspired Freya’s 2022 opera WITCH. Commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music for its bicentenary, it explores two interweaving narratives: the story of Sarah, a hyper-online contemporary teenager, and Jane, being tried as a witch in 1590s Scotland.
a dream scene in Freya Waley-Cohen’s WITCH by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
An opera inspired by poetry
“Tamás’s poems gave me strange and witchy dreams, and I felt a strong impulse to engage creatively with what I found there… Her witch is full of desire and power but she is neither bad nor good – she exists outside that framework.” Freya Waley-Cohen, The Guardian
Freya Waley-Cohen’s opera inspired by poetry by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
Podcast
Hear a clip from the Longborough Festival Opera Podcast talking about Rebecca’s WITCH poems (listen from 07:10 to 08:02)
Inside the Opera video
Watch Freya talk about the inspiration for her opera, WITCH, and how this takes form in her work.
A lead character in WITCH by Freya Waley-Cohen by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
How does the music of WITCH bring its characters to life?
The two women at the opera’s centre initially exist in very different soundscapes. Freya describes modern teenager Sarah’s world as “bright and multi-coloured, orchestrated with playful woodwinds, plenty of percussion, celeste and piano as well as strings.” The Guardian
The character of Jane in the opera WITCH by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
A 16th-century witch’s sound world
16th-century witch Jane begins in a far more minimal sound world: “Strings only, with the occasional visit from open horns or a pair of flutes, everything around her is happening with almost extreme rhythmic regularity.” Freya Waley-Cohen, The Guardian
a witch trial in the opera WITCH by Freya Waley-Cohen by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
Resisting repression through music
“But her way of seeing the world pushes up against those restrictive rhythmic regularities, her melody lines pull against everything around her, slipping and sliding into different harmonic worlds in the brief moments when she’s alone.” Freya Waley-Cohen, The Guardian
a duet scene in the Royal Academy of Music production of WITCH by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
A duet across time and space
“At the midpoint of the work, when Sarah and Jane finally share the same space, their voices intermingle in a duet above the dread-inducing beat of dark, low, steady chords… musical material from each side begins to seep into the other.” Freya Waley-Cohen, The Guardian
a coven of witches in Freya Waley-Cohen’s WITCH by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
Casting musical spells
“Sarah and her coven turn to spells and the power of ritual to feel safe and claim their own power.” Freya Waley-Cohen, The Guardian
internet trolls in WITCH by Freya Waley-Cohen by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
What does the internet sound like?
“I use melody lines and counterpoint that reference early sacred vocal music as well as simple folk idioms, and spin these into tightly knit canons to mimic the kaleidoscopic nature of how it can feel to hear myriad voices on the internet.” Freya Waley-Cohen, The Guardian
a character onstage in contemporary opera WITCH by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
How does the story of WITCH relate to the modern world?
“A witch was often someone who stood outside of the accepted norms of society…”
Our culture’s fairytales sometimes seem to offer just two options for women: “be helpless but loved, or be powerful but hated and feared.” Freya Waley-Cohen, The Guardian
a character singing in Freya Waley-Cohen’s WITCH by Craig FullerHarrisonParrott Foundation
Liberating the voice of the witch
“If I can look through the eyes of the witch and give her music to sing, can I see a different way of existing in the world – a different way of relating to gender and gender roles, and a different story to tell for a different future?” Freya Waley-Cohen, The Guardian
