• The Book of Songs

    2014 | 18 mins | for tenor and guitar

    text by Chinese poets from 800 BC to 700 AD

    1. She Threw me a Quince

    2. Oh, You with the Blue Collar

    3. Plucking the Rushes

    4. Pastoral

    5. In the Tavern

    6. Lament

    “Goss’s ‘The Book of Songs’ is a striking series of miniatures, written with clear understanding of Bostridge’s distinctive instrument. The voice croons in musical androgyny in ‘Oh, you with the blue collar’ and barks in broken speech in ‘In the tavern’ " Gramophone, November 2016

    Listen Listen Score Notes CD

    Commissioned by Xuefei Yang and Ian Bostridge. First performance 30th November 2014, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe, London. Published by Doberman.