WOVEN (2005) 10'
Theodore Presser
Two versions: two violins; two flutes
Prem: 8/6/05; LongHouse Preserve, East Hampton, NY
I. Spinning II. Knotted III. Open Weave IV. Tapestry
Jack Larsen’s fabric designs are the inspiration for Woven. The work applies the principle of interwoven strands of colored thread to interwoven musical lines. Texture, color and design are the governing elements. In Spinning the motion of the loom becomes the rhythm, while the two intertwining lines exchange musical phrases, spinning around each other. Knotted focuses on both lines in close proximity, "rubbing" against one another in dissonant clusters. Open Weave explores the opposite extreme, with the lines separated and spaced wide apart. Tapestry combines disparate elements, such as transparent and opaque, smooth and prickly, pale and bright, coarse and fine, elastic and brittle.