For SATB Chorus (divisi) unaccompanied
By Frank Ferko
The music begins with two baritone soloists singing an introductory 'call-and-response' to which the entire chorus eventually responds. The opening line of text is first presented in fragmented form, as if voices from all areas of nature gradually rise up and then merge into a unified chordal texture. As the text turns to the imagery of weaving, the musical texture, accordingly, becomes contrapuntal: individual melodic lines, sung by solo voices or small groups (the 'weft'), intertwine with each other and also with the main chorus, which provides the overall harmonic structure (the 'warp'). The following chorale section, infused with occasional chromatic inflections, represents the massive 'rainbow' in the text and brings the work to a unified conclusion.