A Red Shirt

Year

Year

1999

Instrumentation

Soprano, Flute, and Harp

Duration

19'

Publication

Publication

Theodore Presser

Program Note


Program Note

The five songs that comprise A Red Shirt create a continuous journey of the mind from the point of view of the mother of a young girl. While sewing a shirt for her daughter, the mother speaks with contempt and humor about society's expectations of girls and women, with wonderment about the roles of motherhood, and with sadness and hope about the passing generations of women.

Recording


I. My sister and I are sowing a red shirt...

0:00/1:34

II. But red is our color by birthright..

0:00/1:34

III. Let me tell you the story about the old woman...

0:00/1:34

IV. It is January, it's raining, this gray ordinary day...

0:00/1:34

V. The shirt is finished: red with purple flowers and pearl buttons...

0:00/1:34