|
Description:
|
Laments and Praises , Images and Reflections for string orchestra (without string basses ) was composed in 1997 . The work (acttially in three large sections ) is a musical exploration of three emotional processes : grief (Laments ) , yoy (Praises ) , and contemplation (Images and Reflections ) . The human need to find meaning in life's stages , events , and emotions was the inspiration for the work .
Laments , the first large section , musically portrays the emotion of grief The poet Kahlil Gibran . In his work The Prophet , said of sorrow , "When you are sorrowful look again in your heart , and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight" (Gibran , pp . 35 -36 ; . Laments conveys this sadness and yearning for people and times past through the use of minor sonorities , the Expressionist 12 -tone techniques , extreme dynamic contrasts , stretto , and descending accompanimental figures . Praises , the second large section , through the use of a folk -like melody , quartal structures providing rhythmic accompaniments , changing meters , and hand -slaps , represents the stage in life in which grief gives way to joy . "When you are joyous , look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy" (Gibran , p . 35 ) . Images and Reflections , the third and final section , portrays life's events as one strives for understanding and reconciliation . "Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights . But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge" (Gibran , p . 62 ) . Musically pondering the heart's knowledge . Images and Reflections displays such compositional devices as horizontal and vertical mirroring of outer voices , whole -tone scales , and extreme dynamic contrasts . A review of scalar materials and the Babbitt square of the twelve -tone row found in Laments and Praises , Images and Reflections may be seen in Appendix A . |