Massed Honour Choir
Henry Engrecht, conductor
Cary Denby, accompanist
A Sound Smudge by Andrew Balfour
The smudging ritual is a ceremony that has been observed by this lands Aboriginal peoples for several thousand years. The ceremony involves the lighting of sweetgrass to purify the spirit. This ritual is the most sacred of all the First Peoples of this land, and is almost universal in its form and practice among all tribes and nations of our land. In the ritual, the sweetgrass, along with tobacco and other herbs, are lit and the smoke is symbolically spread over the entire body, like a smoke shower. The person spreads the smoke over themselves to purify themselves. This work is intended to symolize this ritual through sound, and the idea of purifying ourselves through sound. I give great thanks for the Manitoba Choral Association and the commissioning of this work. Andrew Balfour
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