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In Childhood's Thicket
2017
soprano
baritone
SATB chorus
3 looping pedals or programmed computer interface
electronic playback pre-recorded samples, triggered from a laptop
duration 50'
commissioned Chorus Pro Musica
first performance:
Chorus Pro Musica, cond. Jamie Kirsch
Granoff Music Center, Tufts University / November 5, 2017
SCORE
Events
Oddities
Mishaps
RECORDING—first performance
(Events 6; Oddities 4 and 5; and Mishaps 4 and 5 omitted from this performance)
PROGRAM NOTE
In Childhood's Thicket has three sections: Events, Oddities, and Mishaps, each of which sets a handful of nursery rhymes and a poem by Frederick Choi. Choosing the nursery rhymes was a fairly straightforward task: I wanted to include only those rhymes that I clearly remembered from my childhood and only those that had some strangeness or darkness or puzzlement attached to them – for me, at least. One thing I enjoy about nursery rhymes is their habitual absence of explanation; these aren't arguments, they don't seek to persuade; they simply present situations.
The overall arc of this work is an exploration of identity: something that we start to construct for ourselves, it seems to me, in childhood. We tell ourselves things about ourselves that may or may not be true . . and these gradually coalesce into a narrative about our likes, dislikes, fears, attributes, etc. that we then present to the world. The three poems of Frederick Choi that I chose to set here also explore constructed personae and they all play with truth and expectation.
In addition to the chorus, In Childhood's Thicket has an electronic soundtrack; largely constructed of treated sounds that amplify the texts: bounces, quacks, snips, doors slamming, wind howling, water bubbling, rain, bells, etc. It also utilizes 'loops'; snippets of singing recorded during the performance, played back immediately, and superimposed over each other. These mostly provide a fuzzy, complicated but rather featureless 'bed' for the chorus or soloists to sing over so that, as with the texts too, simple things lead to complex things through accretion and juxtaposition.
TEXTS
EVENTS
1.Little Jumping Joan
Here am I, Little Jumping Joan.
When nobody's with me
I'm always alone.
•
2. I do not like thee
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell.
But this I know, and know full well;
I do not like thee Doctor Fell.
•
3. Hark, hark! the dogs do bark!
Hark, hark! the dogs do bark!
Beggars are coming to town:
Some in rags and some in tags
And some in velvet gown.
•
4. Three little kittens
Three little kittens they lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
“Oh, mammy dear! we sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost.”
“What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens.
Then you shall have no pie.”
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
Three little kittens they found their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mammy dear! see here, see here,
Our mittens we have found!”
“What! Found your mittens, you clever kittens,
Then you shall have some pie.”
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
Three little kittens put on their mittens,
And ate up all the pie;
“Oh, mammy dear! we greatly fear
Our mittens we have soiled.”
“What! Soiled your mittens, you naughty kittens.”
Then they began to cry,
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
Three little kittens they washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry;
“Oh, mammy dear! look here, look here,
Our mittens we have washed.”
“What! Washed your mittens, you good little kittens,
But I smell a mouse close by!”
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow
•
5. Three mice went into a hole to spinThree mice went into a hole to spin.
Puss passed by, and Puss looked in;
"What are you doing, my little men?"
"Weaving coats for gentlemen."•
"Ah, no, Mistress Pussy, you'd bite off our heads!
"Ah, no, Mistress Pussy, you'd bite off our heads!"
Says Puss, "You look so wondrous wise;
I like your whiskers and bright black eyes;
Your house is the nicest house I see,
I think there's room for you and me."
The mice were so pleased that they opened the door.
And Pussy soon laid them all dead on the floor.
And Pussy soon laid them all dead on the floor.
•
6. There was an old woman who had three sons
There was an old woman had three sons,
Jerry and James and John,
Jerry was hanged, James was drowned,
John was lost and never was found;
And there was an end of her three sons,
Jerry and James and John!
•
7. Three wise men of Gotham
Three wise men of Gotham,
Went to sea in a tub,
Had the tub been stronger
My tale would be longer
•
8. Begging your pardon, Mrs. Arden
Begging your pardon, Mrs. Arden,
Is that a kitting in your garden,
An-eating of a mutting bone?”
•
9. Mrs. White had a fright
Mrs. White had a fright in the middle of the night;
She saw a ghost, eating toast, half-way up a lamppost.
•
10. I am easily entertained
I am easily entertained:
Rush hour Monday and my car broken down on the highway.
Whoo!
I am easy to please:
A bright shiny penny in my hand or rolling in a glass jar will do.
Or if not that, a nickel all for me.
There is not much to distress me on a spring day:
The store all out of food,
but thank goodness they had
this one can of creamed corn from 1964!
The first time I saw you
you had a broken arm, a limp, and a cane.
I was coughing so hard I could barely breathe.
What a nice time that was.
And look at us now:
Still alive.
Still able to crawl home to Boston
(measuring distance in parts of an inch),
into each other's arms and back again.
Still lying on dewy grass,
born of the earth,
as toothless and hairless as two human-sized worms.
What larks!
What merriment!
What infinite joy!
•
Oddities
1. Goosey goosey gander
Goosey goosey gander,
Where shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
So I took him by the left leg
And threw him down the stairs
•
2. Bye, Baby Bunting
Bye, Baby Bunting.
Daddy’s gone a-hunting,
He's gone to get a rabbit skin
To wrap the Baby Bunting in.
Bye, Baby Bunting.
•
3. I had a little nut tree
I had a little nut tree,
Nothing would it bear,
But a silver nutmeg
And a golden pear;
The King of Spain's daughter
Came to visit me,
And all for the sake
Of my little nut tree.
I danced o'er the water,
I danced o'er the sea,
And all the birds in the air,
They couldn't catch me.
•
4. Little Polly Flinders
Little Polly Flinders,
Sat among the cinders,
Warming her pretty little toes;
Her mother came and caught her,
And smacked her naughty daughter
For spoiling her nice new clothes.
•
5. Polly put the kettle on
Polly put the kettle on,
Polly put the kettle on,
Polly put the kettle on,
We'll all have tea.
Sukey take it off again,
Sukey take it off again,
Sukey take it off again,
They've all gone away.
6. Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up Jack got and home did trot,
As fast as he could caper;
He went to bed to mend his head
With vinegar and brown paper.
•
7. The muffin man
Do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Do you know the muffin man,
Who lives down Drury Lane?
Yes, I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Yes, I know the muffin man,
Who lives down Drury Lane.
•
8. A 93-year-old woman
There is a 93-year-old woman who lives in my closet.
We have never spoken.
I see her in the mornings when I reach in for a shirt to wear or a clean towel.
I see her when I put my socks in the white mesh hamper at the end of the day.
She looks a bit like me.
Sometimes when I'm not paying attention, I forget and think she's my
reflection. Then, startled, I jump back a little and turn away quickly.
There are days she looks gentle, like a sleeping baby.
Other days she terrifies me.
I don't think about her every day. Almost every day, I'd say.
I have not named her yet.
•
9. The grand old Duke of York
Oh, The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half-way up,
They were neither up nor down.
•
Mishaps
1. Little Boy Blue
Little Boy Blue,
Come blow on your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow,
The cow's in the corn;
Where's the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haycock, fast asleep.
Will you wake him? No, not I,
For if I do, he's sure to cry.
•
2. The north wind doth blow
The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then?
Poor thing.
He'll sit in a barn,
To keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing,
Poor thing.
•
3. Ding, dong, bell
Ding, dong, bell,
Pussy’s in the well.
Who put him in?
Little Tommy Flynn.
Who pulled him out?
Little Tommy Stout.
What a naughty boy was that,
To drown poor pussy cat,
Who ne'er did any harm,
But killed all the mice in his father's barn.
•
4. Sing a song of sixpence
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing;
Now wasn't that a dainty dish,
To set before the King?
The King was in his counting house,
Counting out his money;
The Queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.
The Maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird
And pecked off her nose.
•
5. Buckle my shoe
Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clement's.
You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin's.
When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey.
When I grow rich,
Say the bells of Shoreditch.
Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
Stole a pig, and away did run;
The pig was eat
And Tom was beat,
And Tom went howling
Down the street.
Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full;
One for my master,
And one for my dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
Bye, Baby Bunting.
Daddy’s gone a-hunting,
He's gone to get a rabbit skin
To wrap the Baby Bunting in.
Bye, Baby Bunting.
Goosey goosey gander,
Where shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.
The King was in his counting house,
Counting out his money;
The Queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.
Oh, The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
One, two,
Buckle my shoe.
Three, four,
Open the door.
Five, six,
Buckle my shoe.
One, two,
Buckle my shoe.
Three, four,
Buckle my shoe.
Five, six,
Buckle my shoe.
Buckle my shoe.
Buckle my shoe.
•
6. The Red Shoes
She saw them on her way home from school, down a quiet side street
in the middle of the otherwise bustling city. Red as the reddest shade
of lipstick, they gleamed on the sidewalk with a fresh wetness. She
knew them, the way they say one knows one's true love, at first sight
(though she doubted it later for she had never known that feeling
before, nor felt it again, not even when she met the man she
eventually married).
It was a bit difficult, what with the crutch, to bend down to pick
them up, unzip her schoolbag, and carry the extra weight home. But
she managed. She never even bothered to look around to see if anyone
was watching her. (No one was.)
She tried to recall the story as she slowly struggled home. Was there
a soldier in it? A crone? A mother? Was the girl lame, like her? It
didn't matter; there was a new story now.
Perhaps they would have been a bit more noticeable than a pencil with
teeth marks but no eraser, left behind carelessly by a strong young
man, but she hid them well. She never wore them, of course. She knew
what would happen. But she took them out occasionally to look at
them. (When? What did she feel at those times?)
When she died (from natural causes; it's not important what kind), her
will told where they were hidden (it doesn't matter where). Of course,
they were not the only secret she had kept from her husband or her
children.
She had requested for them to be put on her feet for the funeral, and
they were. She did not startle the mourners (a quite admirable number,
really) by rising from the coffin during the last hymn and dancing out
the church. More than one person, however, did notice that the shoes
did not fit (Were they too small? Too big?) but of course no one said
anything.
She was buried, and the shoes were buried with her.
And that was the end of that story.
And if I told you that the girl's name was Cathy, that the town was a
small village in Kent, that she was not lame, that the shoes were from
Marks & Spencer, and that they were a lovely shade of rich, woodsy
green, would you believe me?
•
7. It's raining, it's pouring
Here am I.
Here am I.
Here am I.
It's raining, it's pouring,
The old man's snoring.
He went to bed and bumped his head,
And couldn't get up in the morning.
Here am I.
I am easily entertained; A 93-year old woman; and The Red Shoes
by Frederick Choi from He, She, and It, You, and I. Used by permission.
All other texts are traditional British nursery rhymes or texts from children’s games.