Stringing The Bow
Judith Shatin
About this work:
The title Stringing the Bow refers both to the drawing of the bow used to play string instruments and to the pulling of a bow to shoot an arrow. These allusions provided strong imagery interpreted in rhythmic, fast-paced music which shoots between subgroups of the ensemble. Stringing the Bow contains highly pulsed music in its fifteen minutes, with strong tonal reference as well as harmonic cross-rhythms and dynamic syncopated relationships among the parts. The piece is organized in three main sections, the last of which twists the shape and realigns that of the first. The shorter central section represents the quiet after the release of the arrow. The soaring arc of an arrow inspired the large-scale shape of the piece. Stringing the Bow was commissioned by Fabio Mechetti and the Virginia Chamber Orchestra through the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Maestro Fabio Mechetti and the Virginia Chamber Orchestra premiered it in 1992.
The Washington Post said "[Stringing the Bow] is a marvelously inventive piece, informed with a fine sense of musical logic and a precise knowledge of the special qualities of string instruments and what makes them sound good in ensemble. The music showed a composer fully in control of her material at all points and attuned to what makes an audience come back for more."
Year composed: 1991
Duration: 00:15:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:String Orchestra
Instrumentation: 1 Strings (General)
Instrumentation notes: str orch