Aceldama

This piece is for string ensemble and solo flute and written by Mary Ann Joyce-Walter. (It was played on Marvin Rosen's Princeton radio station 103.3 and online.) The strings play a slow fugal-like texture that represents a field, Aceldama "Field of Blood," near Jerusalem where Judas is said to have tossed the 20 pieces of silver. It is a metaphor for the "fields of blood" today, especially our American 9/11; the solo flute represents a lone human being walking in this place of pain and mystery. The piece has a solemn and beautiful mood.

Frank Bear.