Work Witch! by Esther Sévérac

The Alien Dog is based on a cool children’s book that I read when I was seven years old.

Debussy sur le toit is an improvisation based on Debussy’s first Arabesque. I like to imagine the composer sitting on a roof and dreaming about his own music.

Neskatxa (pronounced « Neskatcha ») is a Basque word that means « little girl ». The melody came to my mind when I was in the French Basque country visiting a friend, who called her baby daughter by this name.

Catillon was the last woman burned for witchcraft in Switzerland in 1731. The first two movements are about the horror of the witch hunts: the stake (Flames) and the elegy that follows (Ashes). The third movement, Walpurgis, is the comforting fantasy that, thanks to their real magical powers, the victims of witch hunts escaped their fate and danced together around a big fire.

In Eastern European folklore, the Baba Yaga is a witch who lives in a hut that has chicken legs. The hut wobbles through a fairy tale forest during the Baba Yaga Interludes, guiding the listener from one piece to another.

The Invention 12 in A Major is my favorite of the two-voice inventions by Bach. It brings this album to a majestic and elegant close and pays tribute to my classical harp education.

Recorded by Hannes Kumke at Bird’s Eye Basel in April 2022
Produced by Esther Sévérac
Mixed and co-produced by Dominik Fürstberger
Mastered by Serge Christen
Design by Doris Gasser
Photos by Guillaume Chavaillaz