As the Throat Chakra is the fifth energy centre on the journey to enlightenment in the Indic Chakra system, Visuddha is broken into five sections of equal length, has a total duration of five minutes and is scored for five voices. Each section focuses on a different voice in the following order: A – baritone, B – tenor, C – alto, D – mezzo-soprano, E – soprano.
The piece is, therefore, effectively moving up the tessitura to mirror the ascension of energy through the chakras.
This chakra is associated with the musical tones G, D and E, in order of commonality, with G being the pitch associated by the majority of authors and E being
the pitch least associated. Each of these pitches is employed as a drone: G is present throughout the entire piece, D occurs in sections B-D and E is employed as a drone only in section C. This symmetrical, or cyclic, structure represents the geometry of the chakras themselves, which are portrayed as “wheel-like energy centres” (Crystal, 2001).
Sixteenth and fifth intervals are utilised throughout Visuddha in allusion to the number of lotus petals and chakra number respectively. The vocal ensemble utilises the mantra ‘ham’ as textual material during drones, while the remaining text is comprised of the words ‘kundalini’ (kun-da-lee-nee),
‘visuddha’ (vis-you-da) and ‘chakra’ (shar-kra). A single melodic theme, demonstrated below, is developed throughout the piece primarily through the
employment of counterpoint techniques.
Primary melodic theme, baritone bars 7-10, Visuddha.
The texture of each section can be summarised as below:
| Section | Description |
| A | Tenor drone (G). Staggered entries beginning with baritone and working up. Predominantly homophonic counterpoint section introducing melodic theme and Drone 1. Baritone focused on as cantus firmus. |
| B | Drone 2 (D) introduced by alto. Drone 1 (G) taken up by baritone. Tenor focused on as cantus firmus while soprano and mezzo-soprano provide melissma. |
| C | Drone 3 (E) introduced – the three drones are performed by baritone, tenor and mezzo-soprano, who continually swap amongst themselves (as opposed to all other sections where drones are continuously within one part). Alto and soprano interplay with fragmented main melody and counter-melodic material. |
| D | Drone 1 (G) and 2 (D) taken up by tenor and alto respectively. Mezzo-soprano has the main focus, assisted by baritone and soprano in a brief fragmentary subsection followed by a canonic statement of the melodic theme. |
| E | Conclusion, similar to section A. |
Fiona Pennisi-Mitchell 