Invocation: March 26, 2020
Joseph Sowa
Commissioned by the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts as part of the Art for Uncertain Times project
Audio file available below
This figure shows the relationship of President Nelson’s sound clips in visual rendering, aligning the spectral analysis of President Nelson’s voice over the MIDI rendering of the audio.
It made me think of how, anciently, names were believed to have power that could be invoked by speaking them…
On March 26, 2020, Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, invited church members, “along with our many friends, to fast and pray” for “relief from the physical, emotional, and economic effects” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What stood out to me most in his invitation was the title he gave to Jesus Christ: “the Master Healer.” It made me think of how, anciently, names were believed to have power that could be invoked by speaking them. My track “Invocation: March 26, 2020” takes this idea as its starting point and renders in music the sound of President Nelson speaking that title.
I began composing the piece by first converting the sound of his voice into discrete pitches. The visual analogue would be pixelating a high-res photograph. Just as the subject can remain discernible in a pixelated photograph, so, too, President Nelson’s voice remained (initially) audible when converted from audio to musical notes.
In arranging the resulting music, I took inspiration from the pandemic itself. To my mind, the greatest uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic consists in how it spreads: a pathogen that people cannot see—indeed, one transmitted by people who may otherwise seem healthy. In like manner, though I derived over 70% of the music from President Nelson invoking the title “the Master Healer,” my manipulations of this source rendered his voice imperceivable. The effects of his words are always audible, but the words themselves are not—thus recreating that sense of an unseen influence. Though the pandemic’s unseen influence induces anxiety, this one aims to instill hope amid lingering uncertainty.—Joseph Sowa, 2020
Joseph Sowa
draws from diverse influences to create music with detailed textures and vivid colors that speaks to mind, body, and heart. His music has been performed by professionals and amateurs alike, including groups such as Collage New Music, Ensemble Dal Niente, the Genesis Chamber Singers, the Ludovico Ensemble, and the PRISM Quartet, and middle and high schools across North America. He has received awards from ASCAP, the American Prize, and the Barlow Endowment and holds a PhD in Music Composition and Theory from Brandeis University. You can find him at Josephsowa.com.