Concert Piece

Voodoo practitioner, herbalist, and midwife Marie Catherine Laveau (1801–1881) was well-known in New Orleans for her Louisiana Creole heritage. In 19th-century New Orleans, the fact that Marie Laveau was a "Voodoo Queen" was well known. Newspapers of the time referred to her as "the head of the Voodoo women," the "Queen of the Voodoos," and the " Priestess of the Voodoos". Laveau decorated her home with altars, candles, and flowers, likely learning about Voodoo from her relatives or African neighbors. She invited people, both Black and White, to Friday gatherings where they prayed, sang, danced, and chanted.
Although people of all races visited Laveau and participated in her rituals, many white people
never recognized Voodoo as a valid religion. Rituals were occasionally sensationalized by white people who witnessed them, and tales about Voodoo's dark practices spread outside of New Orleans.
White Protestants did perceive it as devil worship. Additionally, some Black clergy believed thatVoodooism was a primitive religion that could impede racial advancement in the United States following the Civil War.
She was widely praised by newspapers in New Orleans and elsewhere when she passed away on June 15, 1881. However, some evaded the query of whether she had ever engaged in Voodoo. She was derided by others as a sinful woman who had organized " midnight orgies" .

The Rite of Marie Laveau was inspired by this story and musically describes dark events which may or may not have happened during one of Laveau's masses.
The piece was written as a virtuosic technical 'test-piece' for brass quartet and was awarded first place at the 3rd John Golland Award at the Royal Northern College of Music & Drama. Premiered by A4 Brass Quartet at the Royal Northern College of Music & Drama.

Difficulty: 6/6

Duration: 4 Minutes 20

Instrumentation: Cornet, Tenor Horn, Baritone & Euphonium.