DESCRIPTION:
Score:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/237514417/Girtain-Isolation-Day-256-Perusal-Score

Lyrics
PRISONER:
Once there was a magician
a woman with crooked fingers and a smile
she was embarrassed about.
Since she was young she had spent her time reading
and thinking up stories.
she did this when things were boring,
she would tell them to the children she planned to have.
she was a royal magician
and her greatest love in the palace
was the underground library.
it was made of stone and very quiet
and dangerous
but she loved it.
In the library was a book,
in the book there was a spell
she had never seen before.
She spoke the spell and became a birdat first it was beautiful,
scraping through the sky and then
she grew tired, she missed her own bed
and shecould not remember how to turn back,
(Prisoner tries, but doesn’t know what comes next. She swallows
and starts again.)
Once- once there was a magician,
She spoke the spell
She became a bird,
(pause. She takes a breath)
Once there
Once
She became a bird
a
a
bird

The narrative behind the text is this: a woman is in a prison and telling herself a story to pass time. The story she tells is self-reflective; the transformation of the magician to a bird is a manifestation of her desire to be free from confinement. However, while she tells the story she can't remember the details because solitary confinement is beginning to take its toll on her mind. She tries to tell the story again but struggles to get through and begins yet again, with each repetition the story fragmenting and falling apart. This is why in the second verse the harmony shifts off track, she voalises on "oooo" to a previous melody, and why eventually the tonality completely breaks down. Each repetition of the character telling the story is signaled with the trombone chord motif.

Parts, reduced orchestrations available on rental: EdgarFGirtainIV@gmail.com

Text by Will Golberg
Sung by Liza Sobel
Artwork by Brandon Cooper: brandoncooperfineart@gmail.com
Recorded by Rutgers Symphony Orchestra with Kynan Johns