by "Blue" Gene TyrannyThis piece is one of 49 vocal ensemble pieces that can be combined to make an opera known collectively as The Immortality Songs, or performed under their separate titles. In this work, set to a constantly pulsing rhythm with changing harmonies, a woman responds to an invitation to attend a high-school reunion. She sends her son, possibly a high-level spy of some sort, in lieu of her attendance. She then describes her son's wife, who is recently deceased (suicide or murder, we don't know), through reference to newspaper articles (the cover of the CD is a pop art-like mock-up of the New York Times) and we realize that she is a swindler who almost singlehandedly brought down the European-American banking system.