Amulet for solo guitar by Freya Waley-Cohen.

Commissioned by St. David's Hall, Cardiff and premiered by Sean Shibe at Nightmusic.

This work was composed in 2021 and first performed on 21 September 2021 at St David's Hall, Cardiff, by Sean Shibe.

Programme Notes

An amulet is a small object bestowed with magical charms that protect its owner from harm. Writing this piece, I imagined feeling an object in my hand, a little like how you'd hold a smooth pebble in your palm, and gradually turning it and seeing how the light hit it from different angles. The guitar seems to me a very tactile instrument, so I was thinking about how it might feel on your fingertips. I don't have a specific object in mind, so you can think of it as any small and slightly mysterious object.

Freya Waley-Cohen

Duration: 6 minutes