Fertility rite

Fertility rites are religious rituals that reenact, either actually or symbolically, sexual acts and/or reproductive processes: 'sexual intoxication is a typical component of the...rites of the various functional gods who control reproduction, whether of man, beast, cattle, or grains of seed'.

They may alternatively involve the sacrifice of 'a primal animal, which must be sacrificed in the cause of fertility or even creation', while there is evidence that 'prehistoric mother worship in the form of fertility rites is tied to human sacrifice'.

Characteristics

"Fertility rites may occur in calendric cycles, as rites of passage within the life cycle, or as ad hoc rituals....Commonly fertility rituals are embedded within larger-order religions or other social institutions."

As with cave pictures"[which] show animals at the point of mating...[and] served magic fertility rites", such rites are "...a form of sympathetic magic" in which the forces of nature are to be influenced by the example acted out in the ritual. At times, "ceremonies intended to assure the fecundity of the earth or of a group of women...involve some form of phallic worship".

Christos Hatzis

Christos Hatzis (Greek: Χρήστος Χατζής; born 1953) is a Greek Canadian composer currently a professor at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.

Biography

Hatzis was born in Volos, Greece and received his early music instruction at the Volos branch of the Hellenic Conservatory. He continued his musical studies in the United States, first at the Eastman School of Music (B.M 1976 and M.M 1977) and later at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo (Ph.D. 1982). He immigrated to Canada in 1982 and became a Canadian citizen in 1985. Hailed as "one of the most important composers in Canada" (International Musician), he is now an internationally renowned composer, being the recipient of awards such as Jean A. Chalmers National Music Award (1998), (Governor General) Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music (1996) and two Juno Awards in 2006. and 2008

His work Constantinople was critically acclaimed and has been performed internationally. It combined music and visual media and is musically eclectic, featuring jazz, classical, and eastern elements. Performed at sold-out halls at Banff and Toronto during the summer and fall of 2004, it has been described as "A multimedia feast of the imagination...a work unlike any other in the Canadian musical literature" (Toronto Star) and "a stunning theatrical triumph" (Calgary Harold).