The Juliet Letters

Untitled

The Juliet Letters is a 1993 album by Elvis Costello and The Brodsky Quartet. Costello says, "It's called a song sequence for string quartet and voice and it has a title. It's a little bit different. It's not a rock opera. It's a new thing."

Track listing

1. "Deliver Us" (Declan MacManus) – 0:49
2. "For Other Eyes" (Paul Cassidy, MacManus, Doug Phillips) – 2:55
3. "Swine" (Cassidy, MacManus) – 2:08
4. "Expert Rites" (MacManus) – 2:23
5. "Dead Letter" (Cassidy) – 2:18
6. "I Almost Had a Weakness" (MacManus, Michael Thomas) – 3:53
7. "Why?" (Ian Belton, MacManus) – 1:26
8. "Who Do You Think You Are?" (MacManus, Michael Thomas) – 3:28
9. "Taking My Life in Your Hands" (Cassidy, MacManus, Jaqueline Thomas, M. Thomas) – 3:20
10. "This Offer Is Unrepeatable" (Cassidy, MacManus, Belton, Phillips, J. Thomas, M. Thomas) – 3:12
11. "Dear Sweet Filthy World" (Belton, MacManus, M. Thomas) – 4:17
12. "The Letter Home" (Belton, Cassidy, MacManus) – 3:10
13. "Jacksons, Monk and Rowe" (MacManus, M. Thomas) – 3:43
14. "This Sad Burlesque" (Cassidy, MacManus) – 2:47
15. "Romeo's Seance"(MacManus, M. Thomas) – 3:32
16. "I Thought I'd Write to Juliet" (MacManus) – 4:07
17. "Last Post" (M. Thomas, traditional) – 2:24
18. "The First to Leave" (MacManus) – 4:59
19. "Damnation's Cellar" (MacManus) – 3:25
20. "The Birds Will Still Be Singing" (MacManus) – 4:27

Bonus disc (2006 Rhino)

1. "She Moved Through the Fair" (traditional) – 4:46
2. "Pills and Soap" (Live) (Costello) – 4:37
3. "King of the Unknown Sea" (Live) (M. Thomas) – 3:51
4. "Skeleton" (Live) (M. Thomas) – 4:54
5. "More Than Rain" (Live) (Tom Waits) – 3:25
6. "God Only Knows" (Live) (Brian Wilson) – 4:00
7. "They Didn't Believe Me" (Live) (Jerome Kern) – 4:01
8. "O Mistress Mine" (with John Harle) (John Harle) – 4:03
9. "Come Away, Death" (with John Harle) (Harle) – 4:30
10. "Put Away Forbidden Playthings" (with Fretwork) (Costello) – 4:12
11. "Can She Excuse My Wrongs" (with Fretwork and Composers Ensemble) (John Dowland) – 4:05
12. "Fire Suite 1" (with Roy Nathanson) (Roy Nathanson) – 5:29
13. "Fire Suite 3" (with Nathanson) (Nathanson) – 3:19
14. "Fire Suite Reprise" (with Nathanson) (Nathanson) – 2:39
15. "Gigi" (Live with Bill Frisell) (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederic Loewe) – 4:14
16. "Deep Dead Blue" (Live with Bill Frisell) (Bill Frisell) – 3:45
17. "Upon a Veil of Midnight Blue" (Live with Punishing Kiss Band) (Costello) – 4:36
18. "Lost in the Stars" (Kurt Weill) – 3:56

Personnel

• Elvis Costello – vocals
• Paul Cassidy – viola
• Michael Thomas – violin
• Jaqueline Thomas – cello
• Ian Belton – violin

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1993	The Billboard 200	125

Other versions

In February 2006, Canadian singer Kerry-Anne Katz and the Abysse String Quartet recorded the song cycle.

In September 2006, husband-and-wife duo Michelle and David Murray released a new version arranged for voice and piano by David Murray.

In 2008, Jake Endres and the Theatrical Musical Company produced the first fully-staged theatrical performance of The Juliet Letters, complete with two additional original songs. The production opened in September 2008 in Minneapolis at the Southern Theater.

In 2009, a Polish singer-actress Katarzyna Groniec translated the whole Juliet Letters material into Polish, recorded and released it with a 7-piece band (keyboards, bass guitar, trombone, saxes, clarinets, French horn, tuba, flute and drums). The album's title is Listy Julii.

External links

• Information about Michelle and David Murray, performers of The Juliet Letters