In this movement of David Hajdu's cycle The Parsonage, the music begins with a text setting of a

recent property listing of 64 East 7th Street. I imagine a showing of the property wherein a Sotheby's

realtor is walking a prospective buyer (the listener) through the building--only instead of the realtor

telling us about the building, the building tells us about herself (with occasional comments from the

realtor.) The building is full of fierce pride for all stages of her life: at this moment in time, it's the way

she has been "gutted for modern use," with "nothing overlooked." She muses on her renovations with

gentle reflection, but when the realtor neglects to mention the building's astonishing participation in

twentieth-century New York history, she attempts to set the record straight.  

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