Elijah Daniel Smith

Forbidden Oracles

for saxophone quartet and percussion quartet

(2025)

Duration	30'
Premiere	April 29, 2025; Taplin Auditorium at Princeton University; Nois and Sō Percussion
Instrumentation	Soprano Saxophone (doubles Baritone Saxophone tuned 1/4 step lower) Alto Saxophone Tenor Saxophone Baritone Saxophone Percussion 1: Steel Drums (one drum tuned 1 /4 step higher) Brake Drum Temple Blocks Soprano Recorder Percussion 2: Vibraphone Anvil Percussion 3: Drum Kit Glockenspiel Soprano Recorder Percussion 4: Marimba (5 Octaves) Almglocken (C4 - C5) 2 Bongos (High, Low)
Publisher	PSNY

Program Note

Forbidden Oracles is inspired by a miniature codex that contains 37 oracles, entitled The Gospel of the Lots of Mary according to its incipit. These oracles would be chosen via lot divination so as to provide the petitioner with a response to a question. In the case of this particular text, it is unclear exactly how the oracular number was determined. Fragments of this text and others quite similar to it have also been found at the shrine of St. Colluthus at Antinoe, the shrine of St. Philoxenus at Oxyrhynchus, and the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit. Scholars (Luijendijk and Klingshirn 2019)suggest that the oraclemonger likely offered oracular responses to those seeking help during pilgrimages or festivals. Though not religious myself, I have long been enamored with theology and the history of religion.

These oracles immediately fascinated me because of how much they differ in tone from modern day horoscopes. Whereas horoscopes today are equally vague and applicable to as many situations as possible, they are often much more optimistic and gentle in their language. These oracles are remarkably dark and predict pain, suffering, doom, and hardship in a way that would be shocking to contemporary readers. While I won't try to make any qualitative statements about why that may be, the nature of these oracles struck me as a remarkably inspiring for dark and unsettling music. For this piece, I have chosen 5 oracles that I feel work well together for the purposes of this piece.

– Elijah Daniel Smith

Purchase

Types of Products

Choral Score Set (8 copies) (Digital)

solo part and piano reduction (Digital)

solo part and piano reduction (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (6 scores required for performance) (Digital)

Performance Score (includes 4 scores) (Print)

Choral Scores (Digital - Bulk Purchase for Performance) (Digital)
This price covers the minimum cost of digital copies for performance.

Choral Score Set (Digital)

Choral Score Set (16 copies) (Digital)

Choral Score Set (License for 16 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (5 scores required for performance) (Digital)
Pricing reflects cost of 5 digital scores.

Full Score/Performance Score (8 scores required for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (5 copies required for performance) (Print)

Vocal Score - single copy (Digital)

Vocal Score - license for single copy (Digital)

Vocal Score Set - 16 copies (Digital)

Vocal Score Set - License for 16 copies (Digital)

Vocal Score Set - 16 copies (Print)

Score (Digital)

Score (Print)

Volume 1 (Print)

Volume 2 (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (price reflects 5 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (6 scores needed for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (price reflects 6 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (price reflects 4 copies) (Digital)

Free ToneBase Digital Download (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (3 scores required for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (3 scores required for performance) (Digital)

Free download with code ToneBaseFree (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (price reflects 3 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Choral Score (set of 12) (Digital)

Full Score/Choral Score (set of 12) (Print)

Voice and Piano Score (Digital)

Voice and Piano Score (Print)

Full score and Solo Part (Digital)

Full Score/Violin Part (Digital)

Full Score/Violin Part (Print)

Conductor Score (Print)

Score and part (Print)

Score and part (Digital)

Choral Score Set - 16 copies (Print)
Includes 8 copies of the soprano/alto part and 8 copies of the tenor/bass part.

Piano Reduction and solo parts (Digital)

Chamber Ensemble Score (Print)

Choral Score Set - 20 copies (Print)

Full Score (4 needed for performance) (Print)

Parts (Mov. 11 only) (Print)

Full Score (3 scores needed for performance) (Print)

Full Score (3 scores needed for performance) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (2 required for performance) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (2 required for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (includes 3 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (includes 3 copies) (Print)

Choral Booklet (Digital)

Choral Booklet (Print)

Full Score in 3 volumes (Print)

Anthology edition (Print)

Choral Score (includes 4 copies) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (4 required for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (4 required for performance) (Digital)

Piano reduction and solo part (Print)

Study Score in Two Volumes (Print)

Video and instructions (Digital)

Piano/Vocal Score (Digital)

Piano/Vocal Score (Print)

Choral Score Set (40 copies) (Print)

Score and Parts (Digital)
Score and part PDF files are delivered via email upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase.

Full Score (Digital)
A PDF file of the full score is delivered via email upon receipt.

Soprano/Alto Part (Print)

Choral Score Set (License for 50 copies) (Digital)

Full Score (Print)
A print edition of the score ships to the customer's address upon receipt.

Tenor/Bass Part (Print)

Parts (Digital)
A PDF file of the part(s) is delivered via email upon receipt.

Parts (Print)
A print edition of the part(s) ship to the customer's address upon receipt.

Solo Instrument Score (Digital)
A score PDF file is delivered via email upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. An email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer's email address.

Full Score/Performance Score (Digital)
The full score serves as a performance score for all players. A score PDF file is delivered via email upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. An email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer's email address.

Score and Parts (Print)
A print edition of the score and part(s) ship to the customer's address upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. The email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer.

Solo Instrument Score (Print)
A print edition of the score is shipped to the customer's address upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. An email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer's email address.

Full Score/Performance Score (Print)
The full score serves as a performance score for all players. Print edition(s) of the full score/performance score are shipped to the customer's address upon receipt. Multiple copies are included if the work has more than one player. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase.

Choral Score (Digital)
A PDF file of the choral score is delivered via email upon receipt. The set is priced to allow multiple copies of the PDF to be printed for performance by the purchasing organization only.

Study Score (print) (Digital)

Study Score (print) (Print)

Choral Score Set- 8 copies (Print)
Minimum order quantity is 8 copies. Single copies are not available.

SATB choral score (Print)

Vocal Score (Digital)

Vocal Score (Print)

Choral Score (Print)

Full Score and Solo Part (Print)
A print edition of the score and solo part ships to the customer's address upon receipt.