White Fox Woman is a striking nine-minute mini-opera for middle to low voice accompanied either by Soprano Saxophone or Oboe by Cecilia McDowall. This compelling work was commissioned by oboist, Paul Goodey in 2002 and written especially for the eminent vocal interpreter of modern music, Linda Hirst. McCowall has since created new versions for Soprano Saxophone and Voice and this version for Trumpet.

The novelist, Christie Dickason, has drawn on an Oriental myth giving this ancient legend a dramatic and contemporary edge. McDowall exploits the range of the accompanying instruments from subtle elegance to a degree of harshness to underline the unfolding transformation. Dickason wrote her text based on the Japanese myths of fox spirits, dangerous shape-shifters (white foxes being the most lethal) which often took the form of beautiful women. ‘Both text and music’, writes Dickason, ‘use the myth as the starting point in exploring the universal archetype of the spiritual vampire, who must draw on the life force of others in order to survive. Just as I use a fan and tea to suggest a world without entering it literally, Cecilia introduces Oriental elements in the ornamentation within a non-Oriental tonal flexibility.’

The vocal range, by suiting a countertenor as well as a female voice, permits a further Oriental reference. In Japanese Kabuki theatre, from the seventeenth century onwards, female roles were sung by an ONNAGATA, an actor specially trained as a female impersonator.

Duration: 9 minutes.

First performance 4 May, 2002 | Linda Hirst (voice), Paul Goodey (oboe) | Trinty College of Music, London
White Fox Woman is also available for Oboe or Soprano Saxophone and Voice (C765).