By David Balakrishnan, for string quartet. As heard on the album “Spider Dreams.”
Overall description of the movements: “The complete version of the ‘Spider Dreams Suite” is seven movements, these four included here are the ones that were most suitable to being performed as individual pieces on their own, and they work together well as a grouping, in the tradition of the typical western European 19th century four movement string quartet compositional model.” Length: 24:00. (to purchase individual movements separately, click on the respective title below)
IV. Marwa In The Pines
“‘Marwa In the Pines’ is based on the Marwa raga, a mode which is commonly used in certain types of bluegrass tunes. The lyrics for these tunes typically involve a man telling the story of killing his love, throwing her in a river, getting caught or turning himself in, and facing either a lifetime in jail or suicide. It may be difficult for a westerner to equate an Indian version of the use of this mode with the kind of story line mentioned above. However, Indian classical musicians, for whom all of their music has spiritual significance, feel that this raga symbolizes renunciation, a letting go of sorts. There is an eerie similarity in the way this mode is phrased in these two styles, especially in the melismatic treatment of the motion between the major and minor third, which became the basis of exploration in this piece.” Length: 6:30