When I first read Catherine de Vinck's jubilant celebration of birth, renewal, and life "The Womanly Song of God" (the complete poem appears on page 27), I heard it as a head-tossing, laughing, dancing first-person soliloquy. I was immediately drawn to its energy and set out to compose a work with exactly the same feeling. The Choir acts both as a singing group and as drumming group. The piece begins with a "call to the dance" consisting of an upward scale that builds to a diatomic nine-note chord. Following this, the choir becomes a drumming group, spinning sung rhythmic patterns into a buoyant accompaniment to the sung text. C major (Ionian mode) anchors the piece tonally. As the piece progresses, the choir, as drumming group, adds foot-stomping and hand-clapping, until the piece becomes a vibrant song-dance. - Libby Larsen |
