David Humpage - Cooked Goose 2 (+ epilogue)

From the large outdoor piece “Island”, recorded live in Fredericia, Denmark, 1996. The performance was timed to start in twilight and end in darkness; much use was made of the local bird population. At the start, for instance, as the audience were gathering, I used untreated, natural recordings of birds mixed in with the real ones which were singing prominently on the wooded slope we were using; gradually, more treated, deformed birdsong was introduced, making a slow crossfade from natural to unnatural (some of the real birds became very confused and were rumoured to have needed subsequent therapy). This piece was in part a reprise of an earlier song (words below) and formed the grand final playout, with a guest appearance by the God of Skylarks; it was followed by a quiet epilogue, of which merely the start is given here.

Cooked Goose (from '2 Positivist songs'):

If music be indeed the food of love,
you must decide what you will have to eat:
the jellied jugs of nightingales for treats,
or nightjars pickled croaks upon the stove.

There are no caws or cockcrows that will fry,
no sauces that liquescent chirps will thick,
no liquid-sifted lilt that can be kicked,
no edibilities trilled on the fly.

(All things expire that make of air their meat;
it’s best to keep the kitchen, not the heat).

(words & solo viola: DH)