Invocation of Rain

There are some regions of Ukraine where old people keep up a tradition of invoking rain in a dry Summer. They drown a “chaste widow” in a river as a sacrifice to God, hoping for rain. This ceremony came from pagan (pre-Christian) times and existed like a game, but they played it very seriously, hoping to get help.The use of “authentic voices” is a tradition peculiar to the Slavonic countries of Eastern Europe, each region using them in their own individual fashion. Basically it consists of two highly characteristic vocal colourings, one a strong ‘throat' sound in the middle register, the other a lighter ‘falsetto'.The persussion ensemble is large and includes a number of unconventional instruments such as a flexatone, the bambusi and the gala-gala, which consists of a piece of wood attached to a piece of string and whirled around the performer's head. The text is by the composer: here is a free translation.Not a single drop of rain so far;
The pitiless sun is cracking the earth, exhausting it.
Unbearable heat. The unendurable sun.
It is time to offer the Great Sacrifice.Prayer and Invocation

Widow:
I have knocked, I have clamoured but no rain, no rain.
Rain water, water. Come on Rain, come on. I will make the
Borshch soup in an earthen pot for you, you will put one in a corner.
The earthen pot will turn into rain. The rain will be falling.
The earthen pot will crack, the sky will shine with a flash of lightning.Come on Rain, come on to the kale fields, to the dry grass, to the small flowers, to the little children.Song of the Widow
Three birds are flying to God. They will flap their wings and ask God. They will break open the sky with their beaks to let out the water.Weeping of the Widow
Children-flowers, you are little boys. What a hard lot you have.
Your father went off. He is lying in the tomb. He cannot see his darlings. Children-flowers, what a hard lot you have. Your mother will go off too. She will take wing to God. She will ask for happiness for everybody.

 Children-flowers. Your mother will come back. She will turn into a cuckoo. She will cry, she will tell you stories. She will gladden you.

Invocation of Rain mp3 [ 14.4 mb ]