Deprecated: Methods with the same name as their class will not be constructors in a future version of PHP; plgContentBackButton has a deprecated constructor in /afs/umbc.edu/public/www/music/iresound/plugins/content/backbutton/backbutton.php on line 7

Ruth Lomon

for clarinet/bass clarinet, cello, vibraphone/tomtoms, and piano

 

Weaving(s):

Mizmaze
Warp and Weft
Navajo: Weaving the Yei
Penelope's Web

"Mizmaze" is an intricate network of pathways enclosed by hedges or plantations. "He
hath walked the whole labyrinth and mizmaze of his life." (Beza)
''Warp and Weft'' has two textures running through this movement to create a
musical "warp and weft." The pizzicato of the 'cello throughout the movement is
intertwined with the melodic lines of the other instruments.
"Navajo: Weaving the Yei" refers to the Navajo rugs that have the figures of the Yei,
Navajo deities, woven into the rugs. You will hear references to some songs of the
Navajo.
''Penelope's Web'' is a proverbial expression for anything which is perpetually doing
and never done. While Ulysses was off fighting the wars Penelope wove her tapestry
every day and undid the work every evening to keep her suitors at bay. She held off their
proposals by saying that she would not make a commitment to any of them until she had
finished weaving the funereal robe for Laertes, her father-in-law.
The myth gave me a frame for the changing textures of this movement, building a thick
texture with the 4 instruments, and thinning to long solo passages with tremolo chordal
treatments in the vibraphone and piano solos.