Sewing Song

Score: https://digitalarchives.columbusstate.edu/items/show/3 

Text Painting: The right hand of the piano imitates the fast, motor-like sound of a sewing machine. Listen to the sound of a vintage sewing machine here. Then, listen to the Sewing Song. Compare and contrast the rhythmic motion of the music with the machine! 

Suggested Activity: Did you know that the composer Thomas Wiggins was blind? Consider how he made sense of the world around him through sound. Listen for the rhythms of mechanical sounds in your own environment. How can we use rhythm and melody to imitate these sounds? (Click here to hear another piece, Joy Boy by Julius Eastman, that mimics a mechanical sound)

Modulation:  (To hear each modulation separately, see Notable Passages below)
1.  Brief modulation from Eb Major to G major. (1:39-2:00)
2. Modulation from G major to the parallel minor (G minor), then a V7 chord in Eb (Bb7), modulating back to Eb Major. (2:00-2:10)
3. Quick modulation to B Major, after a cadence in Eb Major (2:45-3:45)
4. The music pivots from B Major to Bb Major at 3:49. This transitional section lands on a large V7 chord in Eb (Bb7) at 4:05, and finishes the piece in Eb Major. (3:35-4:20)