music        news/events        bio        contact        recordings Travelers' Tales 1989 SATB chorus duration 16' first performance: Canto, cond. William Cutter All Saints Church, Brookline / June 14, 1996  SCORE The Six Badgers The Queen of the Nile The Cuckoo Being a Giant King Lear Nottamun Town When Did the World Begin TEXTS The Six Badgers As I was a-hoeing, a-hoeing my lands Six badgers came up with white wands in their hands They made a ring around me and, bowing, they said! "Hurry home, Farmer George, for the table is spread! There’s pie in the oven, there’s beef on the plate: Hurry home, Farmer George, if you would not be late!" So homeward I went, but could not understand Why six fine dog badgers with white wands in hand Should seek me out hoeing and bow in a ring, And all to inform me so common a thing!  Robert Graves (1895–1985)  The Queen of the Nile Said the Queen of the Nile By the green palm tree "It is Our desire That you come to tea Thursday at twenty-three Past three Under the Royal Canopy In Our Golden Barge On the River Nile Beside the Mediterranean Sea."  I bowed and said: "Most certainly!" To the Queen of the Nile By the green palm tree.  William Jay Smith (b.1918)  The Cuckoo The cuckoo is a fine bird She sings as she flies She brings us good tidings And tells us no lies. She sucks those sweet flowers To make her voice clear And the more she sings Cuckoo The summer draws near.  So come all you fair maidens Wherever you may be, Don’t fix your minds on The top of the tree.  For the leaves will soon wither, And the roots will soon die, And I am forsaken And I know not why.  traditional (English)  Being a Giant It is hard being a giant in a place where there are few giants and all of them crazy. The loneliness is the worst part. If he catches a glimpse of the bodies of the little people running in the fields below it is all he can do to keep from crying. On white hot days he wanders in the hills ignoring the sharp pains in his belly. He carries a small pocket mirror in which he sometimes looks at pieces of his enormous face and sometimes holds it out flashing the commandments of the sun to the empty hills  Robert Mezey (b.1935)  King Lear

	Goneril and Regan Lear Cordelia Lear Kent Lear Fool Lear Gloucester Edmund	Pop’s tops!                        True Cordelia?                                                   Oh, Dad! I banish you!                       Gad!                                    Vanish!                                                   Mad!  Believe me, these sisters Deceive you,                       The twisters! And my boy’s a bastard.                                                   Too bad.
	Edgar Lear Goneril and Regan Gloucester Edmund Gloucester Edgar Gloucester	I’m disguised. Tom’s a fruitcake.                                                   Me too! Prise those eyes out.                        I’m blinded! Boo-hoo! I fix my own odds. The gods are such sods. No they’re not. Jump! All right!                       And that's true.
	Regan Edmund Goneril Albany Lear Cordelia Regan Goneril Edmund	My hubby’s just snuffed it. To bed! My lady?                       He's mine!                                     You’re still wed. The law is an ass; Forgive me, my lass. Of course!                       Ugh!                                    Agh!                                                   Oogh!                       They’re all dead!
	Albany Kent Lear Albany Kent Edgar	Good old gods! Three cheers!                                    I feel queer! She’s dead. Howl. Fool. Gurgle.                                    Oh dear! He’s dead and I’m dying. It’s time to start crying; I’m king. That’s your lot. Shed a tear.

Bill Greenwell (b.1952)  Nottamun Town In Nottamun Town not a soul would look up, Not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down, Not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down, To tell me the way to Nottamun Town.  I rode a big horse that was called a gray mare, Gray mane and tail, gray stripes down his back, Gray mane and tail, gray stripes down his back, There weren’t a hair on him but what was called black.  She stood so still, she threw me to the dirt, She tore my hide and bruised my shirt From stirrup to stirrup, I mounted again And on my ten toes I rode over the plain.  Met the King and the Queen and a company of men A-walking behind a a-riding before. A stark naked drummer came walking along With his hands in his bosom a-beating his drum.  Sat down on a hot and cold frozen stone, Ten thousand stood round me and I was alone. Took my heart in my hand to keep my head warm. Ten thousand got drowned that never were born.  traditional (English)  When Did the World Begin "When did the World begin and how?" I asked a lamb, a goat, a cow:  "What’s it all about and why?" I asked a hog as he walked by"  "Where will the whole thing end, and when?" I asked a duck, a goose, a hen"  And I copied all the answers too, A quack, a honk, an oink, a moo.  Robert Clairmont