to not walk upside down

to not walk upside down in the realm of the dead

for soprano, violin, cello, and percussion
text from the Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts
Premiere: Mary Bonhag, soprano - Nicholas Bentz, violin - Jay Campbell, cello - Nick Fox, percussion
June 17, 2019 - New Music on the Point - Leicester, VT
Duration: 4.5'

to not walk upside down in the realm of the dead is a setting of an Ancient Egyptian spell from around four thousand years ago. Like many others, this incantation was found written on the inside of a coffin where it was to be read in the afterlife by the deceased. These spells served as advice to those making their way to salvation with Osiris in the Field of Reeds. This spell in particular was used to protect and save those who found themselves upside down in the afterlife. To be upside down in the afterlife was to be marked for damnation – not a hell as we know it, but a total obliteration and erasure. My setting of this text places the soprano in an upside-down environment from which only the spell can save them.