Goldfish Songs, written by Jenni Brandon, Performed by Christina Medawar

Goldfish Songs, written by Jenni Brandon, performed by Christina Medawar on April 16, 2021. This is the Sustain Music Project’s “Paint the Music” virtual series that pairs local Seattle musicians and visual artists to create a hybrid performance where music and art meet. The projected YouTube release this concert is on Saturday, April 17, 2021. The program for this virtual concert is:

  • “Goldfish Songs” – Jenni Brandon performed by Christina Medawar
  • “Left Behind” – Sarah Bassingthwaite
  • “Hxo” – Sungji Hong
  • “Sonata Flautisima” – Miguel del Aguila

Goldfish Songs was written at the request of flutist Danielle Hundley, a member of the Cincinnati new music ensemble Conundrum. She has always loved fancy goldfish (and in fact movement three is named after her Ryukin goldfish Bela) and imagined a work for flute about some of these beautiful fish. We collaborated on this project to create four short, descriptive movements about a select variety of fancy goldfish, choosing these particular goldfish because of their unique attributes.

Pearlscale: A flash in the sunlight

The Pearlscale Goldfish is a variety characterized by pearl‐like nodules on the surface of its scales. As he swims, his scales pick up reflections of sunlight, creating a creature that shines and shimmers like a jewel under the water.

Celestial: Looking heavenward…

The Celestial Goldfish has a very unique feature—its eyes are positioned atop its head.  This gives this goldfish the look of praying or looking towards the heavens.  This prayer-like quality is reflected in the ghostly harmonics played by the flute in this movement.

Ryukin: “Bela”

The Ryukin is an extremely agile goldfish variety. Its stout belly and well‐formed fins make it an excellent swimmer, and this movement is fast and furious like these little swimmers.

Lionhead: The Gentle Giant

The Lionhead is known as the “puppy‐dog” of goldfish; this slow-moving giant is infamous for becoming tame enough to eat out of your hand. In this movement for alto flute the Lionhead swims gently through the water, singing a peaceful song.

*Performed by Greg Milliren. On the CD Songs of California: Music for Winds and Piano

A sound bite and sheet music for Goldfish Songs is available on Jenni Brandon’s website at Goldfish Songs for solo flute/alto flute – Jenni Brandon.