Incantations is the fourth studio album by English musician, songwriter, and producer Mike Oldfield, released on 1 December 1978 by Virgin Records. Following the release of his previous album Ommadawn (1975), Oldfield moved into a new home in Bisley, Gloucestershire, where he set up a new recording studio. He started on a follow-up in 1977 which took form as a double album with one, side-long track on each side of the LP record. Oldfield wished to use real incantations in the music, but ended up using folklore as a loose running theme, such as Dianna the Huntress. Though primarily instrumental, lyrical sections are adapted from works by poets Henry Longfellow and Ben Jonson. Oldfield completed the self-awareness seminar Exegesis while recording Incantations. Incantations peaked at No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Oldfield's first album not to reach the UK top-five. It was supported by Oldfield's first concert tour as a solo artist, which featured all four parts of Incantations performed on stage with a band, orchestra, and choir. Parts of this tour were recorded and released as the 1979 live album Exposed. Incantations was reissued in 2000 and 2011; the latter release features a new digital remaster and additional content, including Oldfield's 1979 disco-influenced non-album single "Guilty" and footage from Exposed. Background and writing By the end of 1975 Oldfield had released his third album, Ommadawn (1975), which, like his previous two albums, Tubular Bells (1973) and Hergest Ridge (1974), had reached the top-five of the UK Albums Chart and helped to solidify Oldfield's popularity as a musician. The three albums were similar in structure, formed of a single composition split into two parts of the LP record. The release of Ommadawn marked the end of Oldfield's time at his home in Kington, Herefordshire, from which he moved to Througham Slad Manor near Bisley, Gloucestershire and set up a recording studio there. When work on Incantations began, Oldfield recalled that his initial goal was a record that contained "real incantations to exert a benign magical influence on anybody who heard it". He intended to base the music around real spells and chants, and asked the A&R department of his label, Virgin Records, to invite the head Druid to his home and discuss it further. The visit was unsuccessful; Oldfield's request for magic spells was turned down and he got the impression that the person was more interested in