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Score title
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Demeter Prelude
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Composer
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Margaret Brouwer
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Date
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2000
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Instrumentation
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String quartet (violin (2), viola, cello)
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Program note
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Hades has abducted Persephone to the Underworld. Demeter discovering that her daughter Persephone is missing goes searching for her, experiencing magical adventures on her quest. Finally learning what has happened, Demeter is enraged and demands that Zeus order Hades to release Persephone. The battle of wits, power, and force of will between Demeter, Zeus and Hades begins. Eventually, Demeter refuses to fulfill her function as goddess of living things, so that nothing can grow or be born, until Zeus orders Hades to release Persephone. Demeter Prelude portrays the spirit of Demeter’s many adventures during her search for Persephone, her personality and character, as seen by the composer, and her confrontation with Zeus and Hades. Demeter Prelude was commissioned for the Audubon String Quartet by the Reston Prelude Festival.
Margaret Brouwer
