Sundew
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Score title
Sundew
Composer
Judith Weir
More about the composer
Date
Instrumentation
Library copy
Program note
The bog-based Sundew plant isn't as pleasant as its name suggests. It produces beads of fluid, resembling dew, but in fact a sticky deposit in which visiting insects become trapped. The plant closes in on the insect and digests it for the extra nutrition it needs in an acidic habitat.
Each of the 36 bars of the music can be understood as a time-lapse study of parts of this process. Often one instrument encloses and digests the music of the other. Occasionally one player tries to struggle free; at other times both exist motionless, stuck to each other. In the final bars, a lucky insect (the violin) escapes from the goo and flies off into the ether.
Each of the 36 bars of the music can be understood as a time-lapse study of parts of this process. Often one instrument encloses and digests the music of the other. Occasionally one player tries to struggle free; at other times both exist motionless, stuck to each other. In the final bars, a lucky insect (the violin) escapes from the goo and flies off into the ether.