(1979) 22'
Theodore Presser

Recording: GEGA, link to YouTube

Based on sculptures by Marjorie Michaels entitled, A Woman's Journey, portraying vignettes of ordinary scenes from a woman’s life. The musical structure is a theme and variations. Each variation, which is a separate movement, becomes a new theme to be varied with its own set of internal variations, creating a macrocosm/microcosm unified by the single musical cell of the theme. I. Introduction/ Praeludium II. Country Fiddle III. Passacaglia IV. Mechanical Dolls V. Ray VI. Monologue VII. Finale

violin; cello; piano

Commissioned by Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
Lynne Taylor-Corbett choreographer
Premiered at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Lennox, MA on August 21, 1979

"A bravura piece, romantic in impulse but contemporary in its tonal language. With challenging unaccompanied solos for each instrument." -The Atlanta Journal