Goldenthal was born on May 2, 1954, the youngest son of a Jewish housepainter father and a Catholic seamstress mother in Brooklyn, New York City, where he was influenced from an early age by music from all cultures and genres. Both pairs of Goldenthal's grandparents emigrated to the United States from Bucharest and Iași, Romania. Goldenthal lived in a multi-cultural part of town, and this is reflected in his works. He attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn where, at the age of 14, he had his very first ballet Variations on Early Glimpses performed; he continued to display his eclectic musical range, performing with rock bands in the seventies. He then studied music full-time at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with composer John Corigliano (whom he greatly admired), to earn his Bachelor of Music degree (1977) and Master of Music degree (1979) in musical composition.
Goldenthal has written works for concert hall, theater, dance and film. His work includes music for films such as Alien 3, Michael Collins, Batman Forever, Heat and the Academy Award-winning score for Julie Taymor's Frida, a movie in which Goldenthal had a small acting part as a "Newsreel Reporter". Incidentally he also had a small part in the stage show Juan Darièn as a "Circus Barker / Streetsinger".
The Tony-Award-winning Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass (1988/'96) and The Green Bird (1999), based on a story by Carlo Gozzi, are a two of the composer's theatre works. In 2006, Goldenthal completed his original three-act opera with Taymor entitled Grendel an adaptation of the John Gardner novel of the same name which told the story of Beowulf from the monster Grendel's point of view. It had its world premiere in early June 2006 at the Los Angeles Opera, the role of Grendel performed by Eric Owens, with an audience that included John Williams and Emmy Rossum; the opus was added to the Los Angeles Opera's permanent repertoire and earned Goldenthal a nomination in April 2007 for the Pulitzer Prize for Music. In 2008 Goldenthal reunited with Michael Mann to score 1930s gangster movie Public Enemies and in 2009 he scored another Julie Taymor Shakespeare adaptation, The Tempest. He cites Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu as an influence and someone he styles his own career on; Goldenthal has said that the lines between traditional concert music and orchestral film score have become more blurred which is the way he thinks it should be. He has also collaborated four times with Irish director Neil Jordan, including on his films Interview with the Vampire and In Dreams.
Elliot Goldenthal has been called the "thinking man's composer" by film-music collectors and a generally more cerebral choice for film makers and lovers of film music. He is known for his experimentation, nuances and willingness to try unconventional techniques. He has scored films in almost every genre from horror to action to Shakespeare adaptations. He has not yet scored comedy, but he has composed comedic motifs for several films such as Demolition Man and the Batman series. His eclectic output has gained him a great deal of respect in the music and film communities and with fans. He is widely appreciated for his musical abilities and distinctive style, although some find his work to be too experimental or inaccessible. His action music is brutal and atonal. Sometimes, in underscore, he uses very fast French horn passages with bending tones and whining. Goldenthal has said that he doesn't "hear" atonal and tonal, rather, "I either hear melody or I hear sonority".
La Bruja
Elliot Goldenthal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A las dos de la mañana
A las dos de la mañana
Y ay que bonito es volar, ay mamá
Volar y dejarse caer
En los brazos de tu hermana
Y hasta quisiera llorar
Me agarra la bruja,
Me lleva al cuartel,
Me vuelve maceta,
Me da de comer
Me agarra la bruja,
Me lleva al cerrito,
Me sienta en sus piernas,
Me da de besitos.
Ay dígame, ay dígame, ay dígame usted!
¿Cuantas criaturitas se ha chupado usted?
Ninguna, ninguna, ninguna ¿no ve?
Que ando en pretensiones de chuparme a usted!
Y ahora sí maldita bruja
Ya te chupastes a mi hijo
Ya te chupastes a mi hijo
Y ahora sí maldita bruja
Y ahora le vas a chupar
Y a tu marido el ombligo
Y a tu marido el ombligo
Y ahora le vas a chupar
Me agarra la bruja,
Me lleva a su casa,
Me vuelve maceta,
Y una calabaza
Me agarra la bruja,
Me lleve al cerrito,
Me sienta en sus piernas,
Me da de besitos.
Ay dígame, ay dígame, ay dígame usted!
¿Cuantas criaturitas se ha chupado usted?
Ninguna, ninguna, ninguna ¿no ve?
Que ando en pretensiones de chuparme a usted!
The song La Bruja tells a story about a man's encounter with a witch who takes him on a strange journey. The opening lyrics express the beauty of flying at two in the morning and being caught in the arms of someone you trust, which sets up a peaceful mood. However, things take a turn as the man is captured by the witch and taken to her headquarters where he is turned into a "maceta" - a flowerpot - and fed. The witch continues to take the man on another journey where she sits him on her lap, kisses him, and asks how many "criaturitas" he has sucked. These lines can be interpreted to mean that the witch is taunting and teasing the man about sexual encounters. The song takes a final twist as the man accuses the witch of sucking his son and tells her that she will now suck her husband's belly button.
The lyrics of the song La Bruja are symbolic and use metaphors to present the story in a poetic way. The flying imagery can be interpreted as a dreamy sensation of surrendering to love or trust, while being captured by the witch is a metaphor for falling prey to sin, temptation, or viciousness. The phrase "me vuelve maceta" is a play on words that expresses the idea of losing one's will or identity, becoming a mere object under someone else's control. The entire song is infused with a sense of mystery, wonder, and perhaps even terror, as the man's encounter with the witch seems to be both fascinating and disturbing.
Line by Line Meaning
Ay que bonito es volar
Flying is beautiful
A las dos de la mañana
At two in the morning
A las dos de la mañana
At two in the morning
Y ay que bonito es volar, ay mamá
And it's oh so lovely to fly, oh mama
Volar y dejarse caer
To fly and let oneself fall
En los brazos de tu hermana
In the arms of your sister
En los brazos de tu hermana
In the arms of your sister
Y hasta quisiera llorar
And feel like crying
Me agarra la bruja,
The witch grabs me
Me lleva al cuartel,
She takes me to the barracks
Me vuelve maceta,
She turns me into a clay pot
Me da de comer
She feeds me
Me agarra la bruja,
The witch grabs me
Me lleva al cerrito,
She takes me to the hill
Me sienta en sus piernas,
She sits me on her lap
Me da de besitos.
She gives me little kisses
Ay dígame, ay dígame, ay dígame usted!
Oh tell me, oh tell me, oh tell me!
¿Cuantas criaturitas se ha chupado usted?
How many little creatures have you sucked?
Ninguna, ninguna, ninguna ¿no ve?
None, none, none, can't you see?
Que ando en pretensiones de chuparme a usted!
That I am trying to suck you!
Y ahora sí maldita bruja
And now cursed witch
Ya te chupastes a mi hijo
You already sucked my son
Ya te chupastes a mi hijo
You already sucked my son
Y ahora sí maldita bruja
And now cursed witch
Y ahora le vas a chupar
And now you're going to suck
Y a tu marido el ombligo
Your husband's belly button
Y a tu marido el ombligo
Your husband's belly button
Y ahora le vas a chupar
And now you're going to suck
Me agarra la bruja,
The witch grabs me
Me lleva a su casa,
She takes me to her house
Me vuelve maceta,
She turns me into a clay pot
Y una calabaza
And a pumpkin
Me agarra la bruja,
The witch grabs me
Me lleve al cerrito,
She takes me to the hill
Me sienta en sus piernas,
She sits me on her lap
Me da de besitos.
She gives me little kisses
Ay dígame, ay dígame, ay dígame usted!
Oh tell me, oh tell me, oh tell me!
¿Cuantas criaturitas se ha chupado usted?
How many little creatures have you sucked?
Ninguna, ninguna, ninguna ¿no ve?
None, none, none, can't you see?
Que ando en pretensiones de chuparme a usted!
That I am trying to suck you!
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: BY LIBBY HARDING AND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind