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3 James Tate Songs (for Soprano and String Quartet)

by Elliott Goldkind

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about

This is a setting of 3 poems by American poet James Tate (1943-2015) for soprano and string quartet: Goodtime Jesus, The Blue Booby, and The Wild Cheese. This is a recording of a live performance in a lovely if overly-reverberant church in Glendale, California as part of the unSUNg music series.

lyrics

Goodtime Jesus

Jesus got up one day a little later than usual. He had been dreaming so deep there was nothing left in his head. What was it? A nightmare, dead bodies walking all around him, eyes rolled back, skin falling off. But he wasn’t afraid of that. It was a beautiful day. How ’bout some coffee? Don’t mind if I do. Take a little ride on my donkey, I love that donkey. Hell, I love everybody.

The Blue Booby

The blue booby lives
on the bare rocks
of Galápagos
and fears nothing.
It is a simple life:
they live on fish,
and there are few predators.
Also, the males do not
make fools of themselves
chasing after the young
ladies. Rather,
they gather the blue
objects of the world
and construct from them

a nest—an occasional
Gaulois package,
a string of beads,
a piece of cloth from
a sailor’s suit. This
replaces the need for
dazzling plumage;
in fact, in the past
fifty million years
the male has grown
considerably duller,
nor can he sing well.
The female, though,

asks little of him—
the blue satisfies her
completely, has
a magical effect
on her. When she returns
from her day of
gossip and shopping,
she sees he has found her
a new shred of blue foil:
for this she rewards him
with her dark body,
the stars turn slowly
in the blue foil beside them
like the eyes of a mild savior.

The Wild Cheese

A head of cheese raised by wolves
or mushrooms
recently rolled into
the village, it
could neither talk nor
walk upright.

Small snarling boys ran
circles around it;
and just as they began
throwing stones, the Mayor
appeared and dispersed them.

He took the poor ignorant
head of cheese home,
and his wife scrubbed it
all afternoon before
cutting it with a knife
and serving it after dinner.

The guests were delighted
and exclaimed far into the night,
“That certainly was a wild cheese!”

credits

released February 2, 2024
Kirsten Ashley Wiest, soprano
The Isaura String Quartet
Madeline Falcone, violin
Emily Call, violin
Betsy Rettig, cello
Brandon Encinas, viola

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all rights reserved

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about

Elliott Goldkind image

Elliott Goldkind Los Angeles, California

Elliott Goldkind composes music for concert stage, film and TV.

His classical music has been performed in the U.S. and Europe. His film work has led to collaborations with Jeff Buckley, David Mamet and many talented directors.

Elliott was a member of the NYC bands “Bones Jones and the Jones Tones,” “Hodgepodge Lodge,” and “Freak of Nature.” He is a native New Yorker living in Spain. ... more

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