Caltabiano: A Red Shirt, for Soprano, Flute, and Harp

A Red Shirt
Five Poems by Margaret Atwood

Duration:

18 min.

Year:

2000

Soprano, Flute, and Harp

Catalog No.:

in preparation

	From Song 1		download

	From Song 5		download

The five songs that comprise A Red Shirt create a continuous journey of the mind from the point of view of the mother of a young girl. While sewing a shirt for her daughter, the mother speaks with contempt and humor about society's expectations of girls and women, with wonderment about roles of motherhood, and with sadness and hope about the passing generations of women
.
Each song has its own character and color, ranging from conversational to florid to dramatic. Yet they are facets of the same story, and share both melodic and harmonic material throughout. (The primary interval of a minor third is present in every song, along with a secondary "color" interval that changes for each song; these are, respectively, the major third, major second, minor second, perfect fourth, and perfect fifth.) Motives revealed in one song may be foreshadowed in a previous one, or echoed in songs to come, in order to emphasize or create parallels explicit or implicit within the text. The five songs are performed without pauses between them.

A Red Shirt was commissioned by the Cary Trust for the Jubal Trio. The work is dedicated to my parents.

-- R.C.