This work appears on the commercial recording Wild Swans: Music of Nancy Bachmann, performed by clarinetist Diane Maltester and Friends

Program Note

I composed this Ave Maria shorty after the 9/11 attacks. The times were so disturbing I was unable to write anything but a prayer.

Each phrase is shaped like a slow breath of meditation. The text “Mater, Mater” is set with descending thirds like a child’s cry “Mommy, Mommy”. I hoped to express the longing and trust that a call to Mother Mary declares. The prayer ends as it began with a full circle of breath.