"The Phases of Eve" was composed as a musical insight into the life of a woman. It includes elements to which every woman can relate.

I divided it into thirteen movements because a woman typically has thirteen cycles in a year and because a year includes thirteen lunar cycles as well. Along the same lines, the playing length of the entire piece is twenty-eight minutes.

The piece has become autobiographical for me. I have drawn upon my own experiences and emotions as well of those of other women I have known to represent each phase of life.

Flight

I. THE SOURCE

The center of being (Michaelangelo's statue within a block of marble). I originally intended it to be a lullaby, but in my quest to write each movement from the perspective of the woman herself at any given phase, I realized it was much more that a lullaby. It is at birth when the woman's essential self comes into being, and for that reason the theme in "The Source" will be found throughout all the other movements, though it is often hidden.

II. THE MONKEY

This phase is simple yet very active. Childlike, it quotes from THE SOURCE but is easily distracted. It is composed within the Pentatonic scale to demonstrate the simplicity of a toddler's understanding yet graduates into a greater sophistication at the end of the piece.

III. THE FLOWER GIRL

Sweet, pure, and very serious. This phase is filled with discovery yet retains a sense of security by repeating a steady bass line throughout the piece. It graduates into an expression of the passage of time with the sound of a chiming clock.

IV. THE DEEP

Adolescence strikes with a circuslike atmosphere. Breathless and exciting, it rebels against a quote from THE SOURCE by arguing a half-step higher, yet the dissonance of the argument in the spirit of self-discovery has a lyrical beauty when heard on its own.

V. FLIGHT

Liberating and exhilarating. This phase retains the flavor and color of THE SOURCE yet soars and explores without inhibition. The essence of this piece is energy,discovery and freedom.

VI. THE WEDDING DANCE

Romantic and joyous. This was the first piece I wrote in THE PHASES OF EVE and the piece that started this whole project. I wrote it upon returning from my honeymoon as a wedding present for my husband Charles.

VII. THE QUILT

Peaceful and content. This phase represents a sense of security combined with a connection to tradition.

VIII. EXPECTATION

Pregnancy. This phase begins with, quite frankly, a bit of nausea followed by a dawning realization of what that nausea might mean. It graduates into a joyous, rocking dance between two beings which are fundamentally connected and gradually intensifies into labor and birth. This piece was inspired by my mother's descriptions of what pregnancy was like for her.

X. THE ZOO

Wonder makes way for chaos. This phase is one of constant movement, drama, frustration and humor.

XI. AUNT FLO'S DEMISE

Menopause. This phase is characterised by surging hormones, a connection to THE DEEP, longing, beauty and sophistication.

XIII. THE RELEASE

The end of life. I had originally thought I would call this piece THE TAPESTRY and that it would mainly be a reiteration of all the other phases, but as I spent time with my father at the end of his life I realized that this is a very distinct, and probably the most important phase. While it certainly contains many memories, it is also an exploration of a new phase and includes a sense of being in two worlds at once. The beginning of this phase is one of melancholy and remembrance, yet is graduates into a sense of hope and finally is released upwards and away from the chains of the physical world.

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