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FROM CD #2:
In Old Madrid

Music by H. Trotère;
words by G. Clifton Bingham

Liner Notes

Ulysses

Together with "In the Shade of the Palm," this song serves as a musical incarnation of the Homeric theme of travel to distant lands — and in particular forms the Leitmotiv of Molly's youth in Gibraltar, much in her thoughts during the soliloquy. The piece first appears (literally) when Bloom shows Steven Molly's photo, asking if he thinks her "a Spanish type." She isn't, of course; and the "exotic" song is a domestic production seen sitting quietly enough on the piano rack at her side. All this occurs in the EumÆus chapter, presided over by the soi-disant world-traveling sailor who has really never been out of sight of the Irish coast; one wonders whether Joyce's choice of the song was influenced by its composer: the exotic-sounding "H. Trotère" was actually plain Henry Trotter, 'cellist of the (fishless) Royal Aquarium orchestra, London (1855-1912).
[CD liner notes by Kevin McDermott]

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