Carolina Gallery: Women in the Country

Women in the Country is inspired by a large, abstract painting by Philip Mullen from 1983 titled “Women in the Country [Series 2 No 5],” which occupies a prominent place in the lobby of the Koger Center for the Arts at the University of South Carolina. As I attend many rehearsals and concerts in this performance space, I have lived with the painting for years, and have always been attracted to its shimmering columns with vibrant hues. The music portrays the experience of viewing the painting from a distance, then being drawn closer to immerse in the details of color and texture, in an intimate and meditative mood. As the joyful feeling emanating from the painting becomes absorbed, the music begins to dance.

Women in the Country is one in a series of three compositions for violin and piano titled “Carolina Gallery,” each responding to a work of art by an artist with South Carolina ties. The other two artists are Alex Powers, whose “Perpetuate Slavery Or” is in the permanent collection of the Columbia Museum of Art, and Christian Thee, whose “Orientation Gallery” greets visitors at that museum. The compositions are commissioned by William Terwilliger for the Opus Two Duo, William Terwiliger, violin and Andrew Cooperstock, piano, and funded by the Office of the Provost at the University of South Carolina.

Violin bowings and fingerings suggested by William Terwilliger.

Information about Philip Mullen may be found at http://philipmullen.com
and about Opus Two at www.opustwo.org.