Shatin, Judith - Penelope's Song
Hard panning starts off this industrial sounding work by Judith Shatin. Penelope weaves her shroud but at the same time unweaves it. In the darkness she destroys her work and awaits the return of her beloved husband Odysseus. Soprano multiphonics are a little tried, and the solo part doesn't feel like it integrates with the track brilliantly well, but there are some fascinating sounds. The track sounds like it might have been constructed from saxophone sounds, manipulated and transformed. The vibrato doesn't really seem right, but then it supposedly is a song. A dark, lonely song to no one, but a song nonetheless. Later the sounds are programmatic as the loom's work is undone. The solo part is almost too relaxed and a bit predictable in the way the 4 grooves. Penelope's lot is a sad one but the way she patiently waits for her husband is noble. Very good climactic altissimo trill to conclude. Recorded on Susan Fancher's 'In Two World's' album.
NM
Program Notes by Judith Shatin:
Penelope's Song is a tribute to Penelope, Queen of Ithaca and wife of Odysseus. It was inspired by Homer's epic, the Odyssey, which tells of the travails of Odysseus, but reflects Penelope's point of view. Ulysses was away from home for twenty years, first at war in Troy and then due to the sea-god Poseidon's wrath, for ten more years. The story tells of Penelope, let waiting for him for all that time, and of the many suitors, filled with greed and arrogance, who tried to woo her in order to become king. To stave them off she devised many excuses. In one, she said she would take no suitor until she finished weaving a shroud for her husband's aged father, Laertes. But, since she unraveled at night what she wove by day, she made no progress. Instead, she actively waited for Ulysses' return. This piece sings of her adventures. The electronics were created from a recording of a local weaver working on wooden looms. The sound was processed and shaped weaving a new sonic fabric. The original version was composed for violist Rozanna Weinberger. Subsequent versions were created for violin, cello, and clarinet. This version, for soprano sax, was commissioned by, and is dedicated to Susan Fancher.
In addition to the musical elements, an animation was created for the piece by artists Kathy Aoki and Marco Marquez. They used a combination of digital painting, 3-d modeling/animation, and digital video to achieve the final result. They thought of the piece in three movement.s The first is realized as a building up of the cloth/threads, with a feeling of weight and impending danger or pressure. The second was interpreted as a night scene, wherein Penelope ponders her position and surreptitiously unravels the weavings. The last movement is a visual refrain, based on the first, but with more dramatic and decisive motions. While the piece can be performed with or without the video, I am delighted by their work, and urge that the piece be performed with the DVD. For information, visit www.judithshatin.com.
JS
NM
Program Notes by Judith Shatin:
Penelope's Song is a tribute to Penelope, Queen of Ithaca and wife of Odysseus. It was inspired by Homer's epic, the Odyssey, which tells of the travails of Odysseus, but reflects Penelope's point of view. Ulysses was away from home for twenty years, first at war in Troy and then due to the sea-god Poseidon's wrath, for ten more years. The story tells of Penelope, let waiting for him for all that time, and of the many suitors, filled with greed and arrogance, who tried to woo her in order to become king. To stave them off she devised many excuses. In one, she said she would take no suitor until she finished weaving a shroud for her husband's aged father, Laertes. But, since she unraveled at night what she wove by day, she made no progress. Instead, she actively waited for Ulysses' return. This piece sings of her adventures. The electronics were created from a recording of a local weaver working on wooden looms. The sound was processed and shaped weaving a new sonic fabric. The original version was composed for violist Rozanna Weinberger. Subsequent versions were created for violin, cello, and clarinet. This version, for soprano sax, was commissioned by, and is dedicated to Susan Fancher.
In addition to the musical elements, an animation was created for the piece by artists Kathy Aoki and Marco Marquez. They used a combination of digital painting, 3-d modeling/animation, and digital video to achieve the final result. They thought of the piece in three movement.s The first is realized as a building up of the cloth/threads, with a feeling of weight and impending danger or pressure. The second was interpreted as a night scene, wherein Penelope ponders her position and surreptitiously unravels the weavings. The last movement is a visual refrain, based on the first, but with more dramatic and decisive motions. While the piece can be performed with or without the video, I am delighted by their work, and urge that the piece be performed with the DVD. For information, visit www.judithshatin.com.
JS