GIAN CARLO MENOTTI
The Carolina Chamber Chorale
Born October 12, 1930 in New Rochelle, New York, Jack Gottlieb was first encouraged to become a composer by Max Helfman, noted composer of synagogue music. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Queens College [Phi Beta Kappa] in 1953, a Master of Fine Arts from Brandeis University, 1955, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Illinois, 1964. His teachers of composition were Karol Rathaus, Irving Fine, Robert Palmer and Burrill Phillips. He also studied with Aaron Copland and Boris Blacher at the Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood.
From 1958 to 1966, Dr. Gottlieb was Leonard Bernstein's Assistant at the New York Philharmonic. He taught at Loyola University, New Orleans in the summer of 1966, and from 1970 to 1973 he served as Music Director of Temple Israel, St. Louis, Missouri. During the 1960s and 1970s he was in residence nine times at MacDowell Colony, NH, and one time at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York.
In 1967, his sacred service Love Songs for Sabbath was performed at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota, probably the first time in history that a full length Jewish service has ever been heard under Catholic auspices. In 1973, he was named Composer in Residence at Hebrew Union College. Two years later he was appointed the first full-time professor of music at its New York School of Sacred Music. Gottlieb's synagogue music was integrated into an Episcopalian vespers service at St. Bartholomew's Church, New York City, in 2000, another historical first.
In 1977, Gottlieb rejoined Leonard Bernstein as Publications Director of Amberson Enterprises, Inc., a company that manages Mr. Bernstein's multi-musical legacy. Among other publications, he is the editor of Leonard Bernstein, Young People's Concerts (Anchor-Doubleday, 1992). Currently, he is consultant for the Bernstein Estate and Editor of “Prelude, Fugue & Riffs”, the Bernstein Newsletter. His numerous writings on Bernstein have appeared in many publications: jacket notes for recordings, concert programs, catalogs.
In 1978 he established Theophilous Music, Inc. as publisher of his music. His non-sacred works are distributed by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., and his sacred works by Transcontinental Music Publications. He is former, long-time President of the American Society for Jewish Music. Dr. Gottlieb is a reviewer and author of articles on musical topics, and annotator for concert programs and recordings.
His discography includes two releases on the Premier label: Evening, Morn &Noon - The sacred Music of Jack Gottlieb [PRCD1018] and Presidential Suite (Gregg Smith Singers), [PRCD1030].
Richard Engquist has written lyrics for many musicals and revues, among them the award-winning Kuni-Leml (which has been performed throughout the United States), Elizabeth and Essex, Dennis the Menace, and Abie's Island Rose (which premiered in New York in May, 2000). He is a member of the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and the Damatists Guild.
Presidential Suite is a celebration of America's priceless heritage of liberty. Inspired by the wisdom and whimsy of some of our most colorful presidents, it juxtaposes the eloquence of John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt, with the journalistic pith of Theodore Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman's blunt common sense, Abraham Lincoln's homespun wit and Thomas Jefferson's irony - plus a legendary quip from the taciturn Calvin Coolidge. This patriotic work combines idealism with light-heartedness, inspiration with a dash of salt.
“Schafer's is a strong and benevolent, highly original imagination and intellect - a dynamic power whose manifold personal expressions and aspirations are in total accord with the urgent needs and dreams of humanity today.” — Yehudi Menuhin
Born in Sarnia, Ontario in 1933 Raymond Murray Schafer has won national and international acclaim not only for his achievement as a composer but also as an educator, environmentalist, literary scholar, visual artist and provocateur. Through his unique explorations of the relationships between music, performer, audience and setting, he has expanded the potential and appreciation of music and its place in the arts and culture of our time.
Many of his compositions and writings stand as landmarks in the evolution of music and its communication in the twentieth century. Schafer's diversity of interests is reflected by the enormous range and depth of such works as Loving (1965), Lustro (1972), Music for Wilderness Lake (1979), Flute Concerto (1984) and the World Soundscape Project, which united the social, scientific and artistic aspects of sound and introduced the concept of acoustic ecology. Major books include E.T.A. Hoffmann and Music (1975), The Tuning of the World (1977), On Canadian Music (1984), The Thinking Ear: On Music Education (1986) and Voices of Tyranny: Temples of Silence (1993).
The texts of the songs in A Medieval Bestiary are based on T.H. White's translation of a Latin bestiary dating from the twelfth century in Lincolnshire, England, now to be found in the Cambridge University Library.
In the Middle Ages bestiaries were serious works of natural history. They were anonymous compilations of what was known or presumed about the characteristics and habits of animals, both real and mythological. Because they were compiled by churchmen, the behavior of animals frequently seemed to point up an instructive moral for humans. A modern audience may find these connections strange or humorous; but at the time they were intended in all seriousness.
For the convenience of singing, I have paraphrased T.H. White's texts, but in no case have I tampered with the meaning. The text of the Weasel song needed to go into verse, and the Bestiary song at the end is my fabrication.
The music roams through various styles. “Leo the Lion” is partly derived from Guillaume de Machaut (with a flash of Mendelssohn in the middle). “The Elephant” has the resonance of Russian Orthodox chanting. The end of “Castor the Beaver” is reminiscent of Baptist gospel song. “The Weasel” is Notre Dame style (i.e. 12th century), while “The Bonnaçon” veers into baroque and the finale returns to medieval organum.
The general spirit is festive and both earthy and divine, as was the obvious intention of the original compilers.
Gian Carlo Menotti was born on 7 July 1911, in Cadegliano, Italy. He celebrates his 90th birthday year during the 2001-2002 season. At the age of 7, under the guidance of his mother, he began to compose songs, and four years later he wrote the words and music of his first opera, The Death of Pierrot.
In 1923 he began his formal musical training at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan. Following the death of his father, his mother took him to the United States, where he was enrolled at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music. There he completed his musical studies, working in composition under Rosario Scalero.
His first mature work, the one-act opera buffa, Amelia Goes to the Ball, was premiered in 1937, a success that led to a commission from the National Broadcasting Company to write an opera especially for radio, The Old Maid and the Thief, the first such commission ever given. His first ballet, Sebastian, followed in 1944, and for this he wrote the scenario as well as the score. After the premiere of his Piano Concerto in 1945, Menotti returned to opera with The Medium, shortly joined by The Telephone, both enjoying international success.
The Consul, Menotti's first full-length work, won the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle award as the best musical play of the year in 1954. By far Menotti's best-known work is the Christmas classic Amahl and the Night Visitors, composed for NBC-TV in 1951. This beloved opera celebrates the 50th anniversary of its premiere in 2001.
In addition to the numerous operatic works, Menotti has enriched the artistic world with ballets, including Errand into the Maze, and The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore; Pastorale for Piano and Strings (1934); Poemetti, a suite of piano pieces for children (1937); The Hero (1952), a song on a text by Robert Horan; and Canti della Lontananza, a cycle of seven songs (1967).
1958 saw the opening of Menotti's own festival, the Festival of Two Worlds, in Spoleto, Italy. Devoted to the cultural collaboration of Europe and America in a program embracing all the arts, the Spoleto Festival has gone on to be one of the most popular festivals in Europe. The festival literally became “of two worlds” in 1977 with the founding of Spoleto USA in Charleston, South Carolina, which he led until 1993 when he became Director of the Rome Opera.
In 1984 Menotti was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement in the arts. He was chosen the 1991 “Musician of the Year” by Musical America, inaugurating worldwide tributes to the composer in honor of his 80th birthday. His music has been published by G. Schirmer since 1946.
The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore
The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore figures among the most accomplished of Menotti's works. Commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation, it calls for chorus, dancers, and nine instrumentalists. The text focuses on a well-to-do, but eccentric man in a castle and presents his life in three stages, his youth, middle and old age. Three unusual pets symbolize these stages - a unicorn, a gorgon, and a manticore. The Unicorn is a mythical animal, having the legs of a buck with sharp, cloven hooves, the tail of a lion, the head and body of a horse, and, in the middle of its forehead, a single horn, white at the base, black in the middle, and red at the tip. The body is white, the head is red, and the eyes are blue. By comparison, the gorgon is a rather hideous creature with monstrous teeth, scales instead of skin, a tuft of hair on its head, and hand with sharp, brazen claws. Tall, big, and loud, the Gorgon walks stately and proud taking no heed of the townsfolk. He is fearless and wild, fascinating to onlookers, yet frightful to children. Even stranger is the manticore, a fantastical beast, having the head of a man but with three rows of teeth, the body of a lion but with porcupine's quills, and the poisonous tail of a scorpion. Afraid of love, the Manticore hides in secret lairs and feeds on bitter herbs. It flees everyone, the envious, the curious, the shallow. Carelessness in dealing with it might lead to the loss of a limb, impalement, or even death.
The narrative follows a fairly straightforward scheme. Each appearance of the strange man sets off a series of events. When he first appears with his unicorn, the astonished townsfolk ascribe this oddity to insanity. Yet, the sheer novelty of the unicorn compels at least the Countess to overcome her amazement and persuade the Count to follow suit. The second appearance of the strange man, this time not with the unicorn, but with the hideous gorgon, further astonishes the townsfolk who take the unicorn for dead, apparently murdered by the strange man. The arrival of the new creature gives the Countess the opportunity to dispense with her unicorn (it has grown commonplace) and to acquire a gorgon. To follow this new fashion, the townsfolk kill their own unicorns. Not surprisingly, the same set of events takes place when a manticore appears instead of the gorgon. But the subsequent disappearance of the manticore so scandalizes the townsfolk that they proceed directly to the castle to pass judgement on the strange man. When they arrive, however, they find him on his deathbed, with the three creatures at his side. Deriding all those who blindly live through social conventions, all those who value things blest only by fashion, he finally suggests that only in the artist will society find redemption, for it is the artist who lives by and for truth. Although replete with witty aphorisms, puns and humorous punchlines, the narrative is a biting critique of aristocratic and bourgeois society. The story is told across a multi-movement structure in which a cappella movements alternate with instrumental interludes and culminate at various points in accompanied madrigals. The music often evokes madrigalian vocal styles with frequent shifts in texture and tone painting. There are even a few frantic baroque fugues that register something of the townsfolk's astonishment.
Timothy Koch, conductor, has been recognized as a champion of contemporary composers and as a leading interpreter of choral/orchestral masterworks since he served a one-year appointment in 1993-94 as Assistant Professor of Conducting and Ensembles at the Eastman School of Music. He led the first Eastman-Rochester performances of Karolju by 1993 Pulitzer Prize winner, Christopher Rouse, and Symphony No. 3, “Kaddish,” by Leonard Bernstein, as well as world premieres of major works by Sydney Hodkinson and Robert Morris. He also conducted the world premiere performance of Samuel Adler's oratorio, Choose Life, a major work commissioned for Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The performance was broadcast on National Public Radio's Performance Today.
At the vanguard of his generation's conductors, Koch has recently founded the Carolina Chamber Chorale, a major new professional ensemble with an international roster of 26 singers from throughout North America, based in Charleston, South Carolina. The Chorale debuted to wide critical acclaim with two programs at the 2000 Piccolo Spoleto Festival
Prior to his arrival in South Carolina, Koch served five years as Director of Choral Activities and Opera at the University of Southern Mississippi. He also served as Artistic Director of the USM Conductors Conference, which annually attracted conductors, composers, clinicians, and performing ensembles from across the United States and beyond.
Koch made his European debut in 1996 at the Prague Spring Festival conducting works of Haydn and of Petr Eben, the leading composer in the Czech Republic and Chair of the Prague Spring Festival. Eben praised Koch for his “perfect performance of my works.” In the field of opera, Koch has conducted critically acclaimed productions of works spanning operatic history. Singers with whom he has collaborated are regularly featured on the leading opera stages and with the great orchestras of the world.
Along with pianist Alan Feinberg, Koch has recorded orchestral works of Samuel Adler for Albany Records (TROY 328) under a grant from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music. He also has recorded music of Jack Gottlieb and Michael Isaacson for the Milken Foundation's American Jewish Music Archive.
Koch has conducted the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, the Millbrook Orchestra of West Virginia, the Eastman Philharmonia, the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, and the North Carolina All-State Orchestra. He has served as Music Director of the Syracuse University Orchestra, the Eastman-Rochester Chorus, the Illinois Symphony Chorus, and Opera Theatre of Springfield, Illinois. He has conducted in competitions in Budapest, Hungary, and Besançon, France.
Koch holds degrees from Illinois Wesleyan University, the University of Illinois, and the Eastman School of Music. His principal teachers have included Kenneth Kiesler, Donald Neuen, and Helmuth Rilling.
The Carolina Chamber Chorale
The Carolina Chamber Chorale debuted in June 2000 at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina under Founding Music Director and Conductor, Timothy Koch. In it's brief history C3 has collaborated with guest artists Samuel Adler and William Warfield, and composers Adler, Anthony Davis, Jack Gottlieb, Dan Locklair, and Ronald Perera, including premieres of works by Gottlieb and Locklair. Members of C3 travel to Charleston from across the United States and Canada. The Chorale's mission is to become the Southeast's foremost professional choir through innovative programming and world-class performance.
Jack Gottlieb: Presidential Suite
Ask not what your country can do for you,
You can do for your country,
Think what it's already done:
You have freedom to move,
You can find your own place in the sun.
(Said life was a breeze?)
That life was a breeze or even fair?
There's a risk every day,
And a prize you must learn to share.
You're one among many others,
Be one on whom someone depends.
And strangers to turn into friends.
When I hear the Star Spangled Banner,
When I see Old Glory unfurled,
And I still feel a challenge hurled:
I know what my country has done for me,
Now what can I be for the world?
ADVICE FROM HONEST ABE (Riff)
Doodle-lit, doot'n, doot'n, etc.
Some of the people all of the time.
I'm not sayin' it's right,
If you fool some people a lot.
But if you fool some people,
What have you really got?
Doodle-lit, doot'n, doot'n, etc.
Calvin's Creed (Softshoe Shuffle)
“I do not choose to run.”
(I do not choose to run.)
“I'll go home to Vermont,
“It'll be quiet there (fft!),
The dry New England air.”
(The dry New England air.)
“I have been here awhile,
WHISTLE STOP (HST) (Madrigal)
[Train sounds] Oo-ee! Oo-ee! Oo-ee!
Ching, chung, ching, chung
Ching, chung, ching, chung, etc.
The buck, buck, buck, buck,
The buck, buck, buck, buck,
I tell myself, each time I face defeat:
If you can't stand the heat, Get out of the kitchen!
If you don't dare to dive,
If you don't care to swim, stop rocking the boat.
The presidential office is a lonely place
That's why you've got to be strong,
(Be strong, strong, strong,
The pressure is enormous at a frantic pace
People keep yelling: you're wrong!
It's hard to make decisions
(It's hard to decide/Do it!),
But still you've got to do what you do,
(Someone must do it/You do it.)
And all the time you're hoping,
I wouldn't want to wish it
The buck, buck, buck, buck,
The buck, buck, buck, buck,
`Cause secrecy and freedom never mix!
If you can't win, you'll still get in your licks.
If you try and never stop,
But if you can't stand the heat,
Let the man from Independence
The buck, buck, buck, buck,
The buck, buck, buck, buck,
NO NEWS (Thomas J.) (Barbershop Chorale)
The man who reads nothing at all,
The man who reads nothing at all,
From the winter to the fall,
The man who stands there fishin'
And wishin', always wishin'
Then strolls along the strand,
Getting sand in his shoes,
A better education by far,
Than the man who reads nothing
The man who reads nothing but news—
IN THE JUNGLE (Teddy R.) (Soundscape)
Through the creepy jungle night.
There's not a star in sight.
Jungle Drums: Boom-chick-a-boom (repeat)
Native call: Hoi-ya, hoi-ya (repeat)
Parrot, throat trill: Trr!
Rattle: Chuck-a, chuck-a, chuck-a
Bird whistle: To-whit! To-whit!
Howler monkey: Ah-oo! Ah-oo!
Cicada: Ka-rick, ka-rick, ka-rick
Mynah: Caw, caw, caw, caw
Drums: Boom-chick-a-boom (repeat)
Native call: Hoi-ya, hoi-ya (repeat)
Chimpanzee: Chee-chee, chee-chee, chee-chee
Apes, chest beating: Ungh-ga, ungh-ga
Cicada: Ka-rick, ka-rick!
Graugh, Tarah, Ungh-ga, Trr, Caw,
Ka-rick, Chee-chee, Ah-oo. To-whit, et al.
RENDEZVOUS (FDR) (March/Finale)
This generation of Americans (Americans),
Has a rendezvous with destiny,
A rendezvous with destiny.
Brass Band: Tan-tan-ta-ra,
Tan-tan-ta-ra, Boom, Tzing!
We have a rendezvous with destiny,
We're a beacon for mankind,
As we light the way to liberty,
Can we leave our neighbor behind?
We cannot live alone at peace,
Nor keep our heads in the sand,
Nor be like dogs in the manger,
And snarl at the stranger
When we are free to pursue it,
When we are free to do it.
Brass Band: Tan-tan-ta-ra,
Tan-tan-ta-ra, Boom, Tzing!
We must live for ev'ry new opportunity,
To live free of hate and fear,
We have a rendezvous with destiny, (destiny),
© Copyright 1991 by Richard Engquist and Jack Gottlieb
R. Murray Schafer: A Medieval Bestiary
Leo the Lion, mightiest of beasts, will stand up to anyone. He prefers men to women and only eats children when hungry. Lions copulate the backward way. Lions fear the creaking of wheels and they sleep with their eyes open.
In this way Our Lord also, while sleeping, remains awake. As it says in the Psalm: “He that keepeth Israel slumbers not nor sleeps.”
When a Panther has dined well, he hides away for three days. Then he wakes up and emits a loud belch, and immediately there comes the sweet smell of allspice from his mouth.
So it is with the Panther-Christ. When he was satiated with his incarnation he hid himself away; but after three days he rose from his sleep and emitted a mighty noise, breathing sweetness everywhere.
The Antelope has long legs and horns. The horns are shaped like a saw so that he can cut down trees.
O Man, you have two horns also: the Testaments of the Bible, to help you cut off all sin.
The Elephant has no wish to copulate. Hence they never quarrel about women and adultery is unknown to them. When an Elephant falls down he cannot get up. Hence he leans against a tree. Hunters saw part way through the trees so that elephants will fall down. And as he falls he cries out, and immediately another elephant appears. But he is unable to lift him up, so they cry out together and twelve more elephants arrive. No use. Then at once there comes a very Insignificant Elephant who lifts him up.
Jesus Christ is the Most Insignificant Elephant. Jesus Christ has humbled Himself to show us his strength. Jesus Christ has raised Himself up in order to raise us all.
Castor the Beaver is this animal's name. His testicles have brought him fame, for they make a capital medicine. Hunters hunt him for this reason. But Castor is bright; with a bite he cuts his testicles right off and escapes in flight. And what is more, if a hunter chases him again, he lifts up his leg and shows him his wound, and the hunter leaves him alone.
Hence every Christian who would be chaste must throw off all hidden vices and cast them in the devil's face.
Unicornus the unicorn has one horn in the middle of his forehead. He is a most attractive animal. He can only be trapped by a virgin. She must go alone into the woods. When the Unicorn sees her, he leaps into her lap - oh yes, he leaps into her lap.
Jesus Christ is also a Unicorn, for in the Psalms we read: “He hath raised up a horn of salvation.” And as He Himself has said, “I am the one.”
The Weasel moves from place to place
Catching snakes and moles and mice.
Some say weasels also eat rats,
But only when they run out of mice.
Weasels are known for excellent ears,
But they soon forget whatever they hear.
This is a habit that relates
The Weasel to the human race,
For driven by love of earthly things
We forget God's saving grace.
Weasel sings from time to time,
But only when he's had too much wine.
Altogether he's no good model
For the human race to follow.
There is an animal known as the Manticore. It has the body of a lion and the face of a man, with three rows of teeth. Its voice is shrill and resembles a flute. It eats human flesh.
This animal is called the Hyaena. It eats the bodies of the dead. Hence it is a dirty brute. Because its body is rigid, it is unable to turn its head. It has no gums in its mouth, but only a single tooth-bone that cannot be blunted by anything. Hyaenas have no sex. Since they are neither male nor female, they are neither faithful nor pagan, but those about whom they say: they serve neither Mammon nor God.
There is an animal called the Bonnaçon. It has the head of a bull, and its body is covered with long hair. When it is chased, it lets out a fart that covers three acres and consumes all trees in flame. So it is with the Devil, that everything he breathes on catches fire and burns with the selfish flames of Hell.
We could go on and tell you all
about other animals great and small,
of toads and snakes and hares and dogs,
of wolves and hawks and spiders and hogs,
and humans too in all shapes and dispositions,
generals, merchants and politicians,
churchmen too, of all persuasions,
bishops, priests and other magicians.
So you see they're all much the same,
some good some bad and some in between.
Certainly one must take care
with the devil offering itself everywhere.
If you would escape temptation,
pray to God for your salvation,
and read the Bible every day,
unless you know a better way
to the study of the Bestiary.
Here you will find morality
combined with natural history
so that through the animals you'll see
the weakness of humanity.
Then may we suggest you seek salvation
through this edifying recreation.
In the name of God who created us all, Amen.
Gian Carlo Menotti: The Unicorn, the gorgon, and the Manticore
There once lived a Man in a Castle and a strange man was he.
He shunned the Countess' parties;
he yawned at town meetings;
he would not let the doctor take his pulse;
he did not go to church on Sundays.
Oh what a strange man is the Man in the Castle!
He shuns the Countess' parties; he yawns at town meetings;
he will not let the doctor take his pulse;
He does not go to church on Sundays.
Oh what a strange man is the Man in the Castle!
He does not go to church on Sundays.
INTERLUDE I (The dance of the Man in the Castle.)
Ev'ry Sunday afternoon, soft winds fanning the fading sun,
all the respectable folk went out walking slowly
on the pink promenade by the sea.
Proud husbands velvety plump,
with embroidered silk pale ladies.
At four o'clock they all greeted each other;
They spoke ill of each other at six:
“How d'you do?” “Very well, thank you.”
“Have you heard?” “Pray, do tell me.”
“Tcha tcha tcha tcha tcha ra tcha ra tcha tcha tcha tcha tchi tcha.”
“How funny, how amusing, how odd! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
“How well you look!” “How pretty your dress!”
“Thank you.” “Thank you.”
“Isn't she a gossip.” “Isn't she a fright.”
“How d'you do?” “Very well, thank you.”
“What do you think of this and that?”
Bla bla bla bla bla la la la la bla bla bla bli bla.
“Oh what a pompous ass.” “Oh what a fool.”
SECOND MADRIGAL (Enter the Man in the Castle and the Unicorn)
One Sunday afternoon the proud Man in the Castle
joined the crowd in their promenade by the sea.
He walked slowly down the quai
leading by a silver chain a captive unicorn.
The townsfolk stopped to stare at the ill-assorted pair.
Thinking the man insane some laughed with pity
“What a scandalous sight to see a grownup man
promenade a unicorn all through the city in plain daylight!
If one can stroke the cat and kick the dog;
if one can pluck the peacock and flee the bee;
if one can ride the horse and hook the hog;
if one can tempt the mouse and swat the fly,
Why, why would a man both rich and well-born
“If one can strike the boar with the spear
and pierce the lark with an arrow;
If one can hunt the fox and the deer
and net the butterfly and eat the sparrow;
If one can bid the falcon fly and let the robin die,
Why, why would a man both rich and well-born
“If one can skin the mole and crush the snake;
if one can tame the swan on the lake
and harpoon the dolphin in the sea;
if one can chain the bear and train the flea;
if one can sport with the monkey
and chatter with the magpie,
Why, why would a man both rich and well-born
INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD MADRIGAL
THIRD MADRIGAL (Dance of the Man in the Castle and the Unicorn)
Unicorn, Unicorn, my swift and leaping Unicorn,
Keep pace with me, stay close to me,
don't run astray my gentle rover.
Beware of the virgin sleeping under the lemon tree, her hair adrift among the clover.
She hides a net under her petticoat
and silver chains around her hips,
And if you kiss her lips the hidden hunter
Unicorn, beware, beware! Her crimson lips are hard as coral, and her white thighs are only a snare. For you, for you who likes to roam, a kiss, a kiss is poisoned food;
Much sweeter fare is the green laurel;
much safer home is the dark wood.
FOURTH MADRIGAL (The Count and the Countess)
“Why are you sad my darling? Why are you so sad?
What shall I buy to make you smile again?
Velvets from Venice, furs from Tartary, or dwarfs from Spain?”
Ah, my husband my dear! Alas!
Ah, my master, my lord! Alas!
Ah! I fear that you can not afford to calm my sorrow.
“Why was I ever born if I must go through life
“Ah dry your tears my pet, my wife.
Whether I swim or fly, whether I steal or borrow
I swear that you will own a Unicorn tomorrow.”
INTERLUDE III (As the Count and the Countess appear with a Unicorn, the Townsfolk stare at them in surprise. Soon every respectable couple in town imitates them until every respectable couple is seen with its own Unicorn.)
FIFTH MADRIGAL (Enter the Man in the Castle with the Gorgon)
Behold the Gorgon stately and proud.
His eyes transfixed but not unaware of the envious stare
Behold the Gorgon tall, big and loud.
He does not see the smiling enemy.
He does not pause to acknowledge the racket
nor to confute the know-how of the sententious cow.
He slowly sarabands down the street ignoring the hunter
but mixing with the elite.
Fearless and wild, his wings widespread,
He fascinates the maiden and frightens the child.
SIXTH MADRIGAL (The Townsfolk and the Man in the Castle)
“And what is that? A Bloody Nun, a werewolf?”
“And what did you do with the Unicorn, please?”
“He only liked to gambol and tease.
I quickly grew tired of the fun,
So, I peppered and grilled him.”
“Yes, yes, I killed him.”
“Oh but the man must be out of his mind.
How ungrateful of him. How unkind.
He must be out of his mind to wilfully destroy
the pretty, pretty Unicorn so gentle and coy.
Had he found something prettier at least,
but look at the Gorgon the horrible beast.”
Wicked is Man, Patient is God,
All He gives Man to enjoy,
Banish all sleep, weep for the dead.
Cover my head with a black veil, silence the nightingale.
Muffle the horn and the lute.
For the Unicorn slain by man will not leap ever again.
SEVENTH MADRIGAL (The Count and the Countess. The latter has secretly poisoned her Unicorn.)
“Why are you sad, my darling?
Gone is the swallow from your limpid eyes,
Gone is the silver from your clarion voice.”
“Ah, my Unicorn. Whether he grazed on mandrake or hellebore or only caught a chill
I very much fear my Unicorn is done for, he is so very, very ill.”
“Do not grieve, my dear, once he's dead and gone,
we shall buy a younger one.”
“Ah, my Unicorn, no younger one can take his place.
Besides they have grown too common place,
the Mayor's wife has one, so does the Doctor's wife.
Now that my Unicorn is gone I want a Gorgon.”
“A Gorgon! A Gorgon! Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! God forbid!”
“Ah, you no longer love me. You must love another.
Ah me, that's clear: I must go back to mother.”
“Ah, abandoned and betrayed,
I shall take the veil and die a nun.”
“Why not an abess? I couldn't care less.”
“Think of our son who has done no wrong.”
“The little monster, take him along.”
“Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho OH!”
“No! No! Not that, I pray!
Calm yourself, my dear, I shall find a Gorgon, this very day.”
INTERLUDE IV (As the Count and the Countess appear at a picnic with a Gorgon, the Townsfolk stare at them in great surprise. Soon all the Unicorns in town are killed and every respectable couple is now seen promenading a Gorgon.)
EIGHTH MADRIGAL (Enter the Man in the Castle with the Manticore)
Do not caress the lonely Manticore.
Do not unless your hand is gloved.
Feeling betrayed, feeling unloved,
so lost he is in cabalistic dreams
he often bites the hand he really meant to kiss.
Do not caress the lonely Manticore.
Although he's almost blind and very, very shy
and says he loves mankind.
Do not caress the lonely Manticore.
His glist'ning back whenever tapped
will quickly raise its piercing quills
How often as if in jest inadvertently
he kills the people he loves best.
Afraid of love he hides in secret lairs
and feeds on herbs more bitter than the aloe.
Fleeing the envious, the curious and the shallow, he keeps under his pillow a parchment he thinks
contains Solomon's seal and will restore his sight.
And late at night he battles with the Sphinx.
NINTH MADRIGAL (The Townsfolk and the Man in the Castle)
“And who is that? Methuselah or Beelzebub?”
“And what of the Gorgon, how is he these days?”
“He was so proud and pompous and loud
I quickly grew tired of his ways.
First I warned him and then I caged him. Fin'ly, he died.”
“Oh but the man must be out of his mind.
How ungrateful of him. How unkind.
to slaughter in a cage the gorgeous, gorgeous Gorgon,
Had he found something prettier at least, but this Manticore is a horrible beast.”
INTERLUDE V (The Countess secretly stabs her Gorgon)
TENTH MADRIGAL (The Count and the Countess)
“Why are you sad, my darling?
“Why are you sad, my darling?
“I like that, I like that! Are you drunk,
are you asleep, or just blind?”
for I dreamt you were charming and kind.”
“I dare say, with the exception of you,
the whole town is aware of my terrible plight.
My Gorgon is lost. My Gorgon, my Gorgon is hopelessly lost!”
“Hardly a reason to weep.
I can now get you a dozen at half his original cost.”
“How dare you suggest such a thing.
You have no intuition or sense, you are vulgar and dense.
I bow to your eloquence, but what have I said?”
“Do you expect me to keep and pamper and feed
a breed that is common and cheap?”
“Not even to offer me a Manticore?”
“A Manticore? That ghost, that golem, that ghoul in my house! Never, never, never, never, never, never, never!”
“You are a fool!” “I married you!”
“You are a mule.” “You are a shrew!”
“How dare you ..OH… I faint.”
“(Oh what a wife have I, Medusah she is and Xantippe,
still she must share my bed, I wish I were dead.)”
“Saying something?…” “Oh nothing.”
“May I then have my Manticore?” “Don't be a bore.”
“Oh why did I marry a count of no account, when I could have married a duke or a prince.”
“(Because they were clever and I was a fool.)”
“Saying something?” “Oh nothing!”
“I heard you.” (she slaps him)
“(Oh what a wife have I, Medusah she is and Xantippe.
“Oh what a wife have I, I wish she would die!)”
“You are much too convincing and forceful and deft.”
“I knew we would finally see eye to eye.”
“Yes, the one eye I have left.”
INTERLUDE VI As the Count and the Countess appear with a Manticore, the Townsfolk stare at them in great surprise. Soon all the Gorgons in town are killed and every respectable couple is now seen promenading a Manticore.)
Have you noticed the Man in the Castle is seen no more
Walking on Sundays his Manticore.
We must form a committee to stop all these crimes.
We should arrest him, we should splice his tongue and triturate his bones.
He should be tortured with water and fire, with pulleys and stones
in molten lead, in the Iron Maiden.
He should be put on the rack, on the wheel, on the stake.
Let us all go to explore the inner courts of the Castle
and find out what he has done with the rare Manticore.
THE MARCH TO THE CASTLE (The townsfolk)
Slow, much too slow, is the judgment of God.
Speedy architect of perfect labyrinths the sinner
But God's law works in time and time has one flaw: it is unfashionably slow.
We, the few, the elect, must take things in our hands.
We must judge those who live and condemn those who love.
All passion is uncivil. All candor is suspect.
We detest all except what by fashion is blest.
And for ever and ever, whether evil or good, we shall respect what seems clever.
(As they enter the castle the Townsfolk discover the Man in the Castle dying.)
TWELFTH MADRIGAL (The Man in the Castle on his death-bed, surrounded by the Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore.)
Oh foolish people who feign to feel
what other men have suffered.
You, not I, are the indifferent killers of the poet's dreams.
How could I destroy the pain wrought children of my fancy?
What would my life have been without their faithful and harmonious company?
Unicorn, Unicorn, my youthful, foolish Unicorn,
Please do not hide, come close to me.
And you, my Gorgon, behind whose splendor I hid the doubts of my midday, you too stand by,
And here is my shy and lonely Manticore who gracefully leads me to my grave.
Equally well I loved you all.
Although the world may not suspect it, all remains in tact within the Poet's heart.
Not even death I fear as in your arms I die.
GOTTLIEB: Used by arrangement with Boosey and Hawkes, Inc., Sole agent for Theophilus Music, publisher, Richard Engquist and Jack Gottlieb, copyright owners.
SCHAFER: Used by arrangement with Arcana Editions. Contact: R. Murray Schafer, Arcana Editions , R.R. 2, Indian River, Ontario, Canada K0L 2B0 (705) 652-0446
MENOTTI: Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors LLC, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Belwin Mills Publishing Corporation, publisher and copyright owner.
Russell Wheeler, clarinet
Julia Hillbrick, percussion
1 Nonet for Winds, Percussion and Piano [12:51]
Chamber Ensemble Charlotte Tull, piano
2 Erato for Flute and Piano [5:40]
Ann Fairbanks, flute Charlotte Tull, piano
Sonata for Viola and Piano
4 Slowly, with freedom [4:49]
Lawrence Wheeler, viola Charlotte Tull, piano
Sarabande and Gigue for Saxophone and Piano
Donald Theode, saxophone Charlotte Tull, piano
Trio Sonata for Violin, Clarinet and Piano
8 Prelude; slowly with freedom [2:50]
9 Fugue; allegro ritmato [2:22]
10 Interlude; rubato [2:05]
James Gardner, violin Randall Luster, clarinet
12 Fantasy on L'homme armé for Oboe and Piano [5:36]
Spring Hill, oboe Charlotte Tull, piano
Sonata for Trumpet and Piano
13 Senza misura quasi recitative [2:41]
16 Allegro giocoso [5:50]
Anthony Plog, trumpet Charlotte Tull, piano
TOTAL TIME, with pauses: 1:05:53
Recorded 9-10 January and 2 March 1999
in the Moores Opera House, University of Houston
Producer and recording engineer: John Gladney Proffitt
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