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About the Score

“To help the Crampe” sets a spell from the Book of Magical Charms, a mysterious 16th-Century compilation of witchcraft and sorcery. Compiled by English lawyer Robert Ashley (1565-1641) from a variety of sources, the book includes everything from directions for summoning spirits to fixes for everyday ailments. This work sets a simple spell to help with cramps. While the origins of the text are unknown, it may have come from the tradition of cunning folk or wise women, peasant folk healers from early modern England. It may represent ways that women were helping one another in an era in which women were heavily persecuted—the time of witch panics. This piece imagines what the experience of visiting a peasant healer may have been like: strange, rough, unpredictable, but ultimately kind. The Book of Magical Charms is currently housed in the Newberry Library in Chicago and the full text is available online. Ian Pomerantz created the transcription, translation, and IPA.

This piece was premiered at the 2023 Choral Arts Initiative PREMIERE|Project Festival and is featured on the Choral Arts Initiative ICON Series.

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