Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

And when I came to write I encountered her with the very first words. The shadow of her wings fell on my page; I heard the rustling of her skirts in the room…

She slipped behind me and whispered: "My dear, you are a young woman. You are writing about a book that has been written by a man. Be sympathetic; be tender; flatter; deceive; use all the arts and wiles of our sex. Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all, be pure." And she made as if to guide my pen…

-from Professions for Women, Virginia Woolf, 1931

Woolf's depiction of the drawn out and brutal slaying of 'the angel' by her own hand captured my imagination from the moment I stumbled upon it. This is in part because her language so eloquently presents the insidious, treacherous nature of the supposed 'angel', and in part because of the triumphant 'Yes!' I felt when the writer finally disposes of her demon. But also, it's because it all feels a little too familiar. Not just the existence of the angel and her troublesome, manipulative ways, and not just the need to kill her. But the fact that she keeps coming back, again and again, be it in different guises, and she needs to be slain each and every time in order for any work to get done.

This piece is part programmatic to Woolf's lecture, and part my own musings on this ongoing struggle for female artistic autonomy. The performer plays both the characters of artist and angel, with the vocal part directly representing the voice of the angel. The unfolding of the narrative could be thought of in the following way:

Preparing to create

Gradual infestation and interrogation

Battle to the death

Aftermath and reconciliation with self

Work Details

Year: 2025

Duration: 8 min.

Commission note: Commissioned by Eliza Shephard with funds provided by Creative Australia.. Commissioned by Eliza Shephard for the 2025 ‘March of the Women’ commissions

First performance: by Eliza Shephard — 12 Jul 25. Monash University Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance, Clayton, Victoria.