Barry E. Kopetz

Incantation and Shadow Dance

Incantation and Shadow Dance is a musical representation of the appearance of the witches in the Shakespeare play "Macbeth." The piece opens with two exceptionally long and emotionally charged measures, the mood slowly building, much like "chanting over a cauldron," dark, mystical and enchanting, invoking the spirits of the night. Then everything changes very abruptly, as a rhythmic introduction announces the appearance of the spirit dance. It represents a "dance macabre" and as such, brings a sense of impending evil and darkness to the mood until the full complement of spirits are now dancing around the fire. The gathering of "storm clouds" heralds the appearance of all manner of dark and sinister creatures joining the dance which builds to climax as all the spirits gather for the final frenzied finale.