Melanie Spanswick

Shamanic Mass

This four movement work is a tour de force for flute and piano, and it was written for dedicatee, the Finnish concert flautist Sami Junnonen.
I was originally inspired to write this piece after a visit to the Island of Gozo in 2019. This magical, historical place, with its splendid 7000 year old temples, formed the backdrop for a spiritual retreat which I attended. The retreat focused on several spiritual practices, amongst which one was the work of the Shaman. After enjoying an exhilarating drumming ceremony, I was fascinated by the mystical process of divine healing.
Shamanism is an ancient healing tradition and is, for the Shaman, a way of life. It offers a method of connection with nature and all of creation. The word shaman originates from the Tungus tribe in Siberia and it is one of the oldest practices on earth. The Shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits. Akin to a religious practice, typically the Shaman enters a trance-like state during a ritual, after which divination and healing is bestowed.
- Melanie Spanswick

Contents:

The Ritual:
The soulful opening melody forms the theme of the piece, or the 'idée fixe', and it represents a human 'Soul' who has lost its way and is in need of spiritual transformation. The Shamanic Journey, or The Ritual, with its rhythmic drumming can then begin. Shamanic drumming is often set at the speed of around 220 beats per minute because it's believed that this speed triggers theta brainwave activity. The constantly changing accents and raw energy entices the Shaman's charge or 'the soul', played by the flautist, into a trance, shifting its consciousness with the omnipresent beat. Once in a trance, the Shaman assists the lost soul, and the process of spiritual transformation can begin.

Shamanic Death:
The trance has worked its magic and the lost Soul is now 'spiritually' dying; it goes through a Shamanic death process, complete with the expected terror and discomfort of 'letting-go' of all previous existence, complete with austere 'flutterings' from the flute. Once spiritually 'dead' the Soul is ready to transform.

Flight of the Soul:
The spiritual work can now begin in earnest. The Soul (flute) is catapulted into this 'scary' place, hovering between life and death, and specifically that of the 'after-life', moving towards the 'light' or the 'fire' that is heaven or hell. The tolling bell (in the piano-part) present throughout the movement, signifies the grave yard of life's experiences. The Soul sounds its idée fixe at the beginning, almost as a cry for help. Pitch-bending, or the flute's constant pitch hovering, might be viewed as the Soul's cry. The flute's increasingly florid passagework becomes more prominent as the Soul gains flight. By the end of the movement, the cries 'with the dead in a dead language' can be heard (spoken softly in Latin by the flautist), signifying the death of the old Soul, and 'There is light in the darkness' (also in Latin), the beginnings of a resurrection, can be clearly heard. The idée fixe returns at the end of the movement but now is halted as the Soul gradually and painstakingly transforms.

Transfiguration:
The process is almost complete; the Soul returns to life via Transfiguration, with spread chords in the piano-part and reference to a major key. The piano-part contains repetitious figurations as if supporting the Soul as it goes through the final process of transformation. The flute's theme is one of hope and joy. But the Soul's ominous idée fixe returns once more towards the end, before the final spread chords, joined, on this occasion, by the flute. The complex, rumbustious finish signifies the completed journey and full transfiguration.