Incantations of the Prophets of Baal, The

Program Notes

The Incantations of the Prophets of Baal is the first movement from "... and they gathered on Mount Carmel," a surround-sound musical depiction of the great confrontation between the Old Testament prophet Elijah and the false prophets of Baal recorded in I Kings 18.   The brass are split into two antiphonal choirs on either side of the audience and other performers are behind the audience.  The work was begun in March 1994 in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, while the composer was an artist-in-residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and was completed in Knoxville, Tennessee, the following March. The work received its premiere in 1995 by the University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Richard Clary and has been recorded by the Valparaiso University Chamber Concert Band under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Scott Doebler.

Scripture records that the prophets of Baal danced before their god from morning until noon and then on until evening, calling in vain on Baal to send fire to consume their sacrifice. Multiple layers of rhythmic patterns of differing lengths which move in and out of phase over an ever quickening harmonic cycle are used to create a hypnotic, rhythmic vitality reflecting this ritualistic dancing. The music grows increasingly wilder and more frantic as the movement progresses.