About the piece
“Chad Gadya” (“one little goat” in Aramaic) is a popular prayer from the Jewish holiday of Passover. While the holiday celebrates the biblical journey of the Israelites from slavery to freedom, “Chad Gadya” tells the story of one little goat that, right at the beginning of the prayer, is eaten by a cat. This tragic event begins a horrific fable about the power of nature, in which each being is killed by one larger than itself. Following 20th-century French composer Darius Milhaud, who wove Provençal Jewish prayers into his music, I chose to use an old Provençal tune of “Chad Gadya” as a musical source for this piece. I decided, however, that the poor animal deserves a second chance. Instead of one goat, Little Goat Blues portrays three (or possibly three aspects of the same goat), each of which highlights a different reading of the original Provençal melody. The opening section presents an oppressed, captive goat who only hints at the tune using low-ranged cellos. The violas represent a second goat that finds its way out of captivity and frolics here and there, but unfortunately its memories of oppression do not allow it to find peace. Only the third goat, featured by the violins, reaches true salvation. It showcases the Provençal tune in its purest form, takes it through a series of adaptations, and celebrates its own freedom by dancing among the hills using awkward meters (as it is hard to imagine a goat dancing in 4/4 time).
This piece is based on my string quartet Three Goat Blues, which was commissioned by Apollo Chamber Players in 2015 for their 20x2020 project, underwritten by a grant from the Houston Arts Alliance, and was written for their program “Oppression to Expression” that connects pieces influenced by Provençal Jewish and African-American traditions.
Little Goat Blues
For string orchestra (2020)
Length: 14 minutes
A recording of the string quartet Three Goat Blues, after which this piece is based, is available here.