Goodness, Part 1 (of 3) by Nancy Zeltsman, performed by Marimolin: Sharan Leventhal & Nancy Zeltsman

Part 1 (three movements, of nine)
1. one a. plate music | b. one kiwi
2. goods
3. ode “When I am Laid in Earth” from Dido and Aeneas, Act 3 by Henry Purcell (1659-1695)*
Compositions, arrangements*, conception and video by Zeltsman (2019-20)
(Please look for videos Part 2 and Part 3 that complete the piece.)
Goodness is a nine-movement program of music for Marimolin combined with other media gathered over a few years. On a whim, throughout 2017, I snapped a daily photo of the platter (Stangl Pottery, “Pink Thistle”) that sits at the end of my kitchen island, often with fruit ripening on it. The platter, which is from my childhood home, reminds me of my roots.
A little whimsy can be a helpful coping mechanism. Concocting and realizing this project served as a lightening antidote to the enormously troubling national and world events over the past few years. Most of it was completed during the first months of the COVID-19 quarantine. My purpose with the piece, perhaps, was to capture the mood of trying to make sense of things.
In total, the fruit plate photos measure a year. Individually, they represent days, and a continuum. Fruit is a symbol of health and goodness. At times, the photos literally correlate to musical material. (Grapefruit is always met with a triangle note!)
Movement 1 presents music with a circular flow (like the rim of a plate); a "kiwi chord" is fuzzy. The "goods" melody, in a low, throaty register, seeks to capture the visceral satisfaction felt with goodness. The movement is an introduction to the elements of the piece. Admittedly, everything happens a little too fast - like unsettling news in the world. In contrast, "ode" is somewhat melancholic and provides time to ponder.
A plateful of love and thanks to Sharan Leventhal for the support, dedication and magic she brought to this. It is as much fun to make music with Sharan today, even remotely, as when we met 35 years ago. - NZ
Additional note:
Part 1 was premiered on a September 18, 2020 "virtual" concert. Shortly before, it was announced that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg had passed away. Somehow “ode” felt like the right music for that day.
Quotes in Part 1:
• I have a lot on my plate. (idiom)
• “A grapefruit is just a lemon that saw an opportunity and took advantage of it.” - Oscar Wilde
• “Whatever is on your plate is there because you said yes to it.” - Daniella La Porte
• “I hope they now go and look at the oranges (sic) … the beginnings of that investigation.” - 45th POTUS (April 2019)
• “I am a better person when I have less on my plate.” - Elizabeth Gilbert
• “Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.” - Aristotle
• “The tomato hides its griefs. Internal damage is hard to spot.” - Julia Child
• “Time is what prevents everything from happening at once.” - John Archibald Wheeler
• “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” - Aristotle
• “A mother’s hardest to forgive. / Life is the fruit she longs to hand you / Ripe on a plate. / And while you live / Relentlessly she understands you.” - Phyllis McGinley
• “Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.” - Aesop