Violist Danielle Wiebe reprises her fascinating program with music that is touched by poetry. It includes the Biber Sonata, Britten’s Lachrymae, Beethoven’s An die Ferne Geliebte with Rita Dove’s poems, and Garth Knox’s Three Weddings and a Fight as well as Penelope’s Song.
Penelope’s Song is a tribute to Penelope, Queen of Ithaca and wife of Odysseus. It was inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, which tells of the travails of Odysseus, of his ten years at war in Troy, and then, due to the sea-god Poseidon’s wrath, for another ten. Scant attention is paid to Penelope, left waiting for all that time, with many greedy and arrogant suitors attempting to woo her to become king. To stave them off, she devised excuses. She said she would take no suitor until she finished weaving a shroud for her husband’s aged father, Laertes. But, since she unraveled at night what she wove by day, she made no progress. This piece sings of her, giving voice to her experience and response to her own challenges. For more information, visit here.