Wooster Contemporary Chamber Ensemble

Texts for April 29, 2025 Concert

Late Night Thoughts from the V.A.: 8 p.m.

Text by Richard Powers
Music by Perry Goldstein

All day long I've sat here paring
Fifty years of my father's advice
down to its core two minutes:

Never draw to an inside straight.
Win your winners and lose the rest.
Never send a boy to do a man's job.
Take all you want, but eat all you take.
Never get into a fight, but if you do,
throw the first punch, and make it the last.
If you can get one hand on the ball, it's yours.

What do I want in my own two-minute drill?
All day long I've been making my list, and
I'm ashamed to say the only thing that sticks
Is: Whenever you know just what's going on,
Look closer.

War-Dragon

Composed by Theo Jons

Below appears the text from Beowulf and the Epic of Gilgamesh:

A dragon to govern, who guarded a treasure,
Hoard in the earth, a high rising stone cliff,
On heath that was grayish
A path ‘neath it lay unknown unto mortals.

Ancient dusk scather, he who flaming and fiery,
Flies to the barrows, his roar is a whirlwind
Flame in his jaws
And death is his breath

Heard him hymns of horror howl,
Quickly laid hold of him
And suddenly tore him
Encompassed in fire

Many a noble brandished his battle sword old
There in bloody billows bubbled the currents,
The angry eddy was everywhere mingled and seething with gore
Welling with sword blood.