The Juliet Letters

Costello first encountered the Brodsky Quartet in 1989, a performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall of the entire cycle of string quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich.^[10] They met for the first time in November 1991, to begin work on the concept and execution of this album project. Costello viewed this album as neither his first stab at classical music, nor the Brodsky's first attempt at rock and roll.^[11]

With a concept of imaginary letters being sent to an imaginary recipient, Juliet Capulet, all five musicians contributed to the writing of the lyrics as well as the music.^[12] No overdubs were made, the album recorded in its entirety live in the studio.^[13] One single was released from the album, the track "Jacksons, Monk, and Rowe," although it did not chart in either the United States or the UK.

The album was released initially on compact disc in 1993. As part of the Rhino Records reissue campaign for Costello's back catalogue from Demon/Columbia and Warners, it was re-released in 2006 with 18 additional tracks on a bonus disc. The bonus disc included additional musicians to Costello and the Brodsky Quartet, with some tracks recorded live at the 1995 Meltdown Festival.^[14] This reissue is out of print; the album was reissued again by Universal Music Group after its acquisition of Costello's complete catalogue in 2006. A new edition of the sheet music was released on 15 September 2023, edited by Jacqueline Thomas and Paul Cassidy, published exclusively by Hal Leonard.

Several artists have either recorded or mounted productions of the song cycle. In 2016, The Sacconi Quartet and Jon Boden (former lead singer of the folk group Bellowhead) performed The Juliet Letters in St Martin's Church, Colchester, as part of the Roman River Festival.^[15] Voice department faculty of the Berklee College of Music performed the music with a student string quartet in a recital on 18 April 2019.^[16]

All songs written by Declan MacManus, except where noted; track timings taken from Rhino 2006 reissue.

1. "Deliver Us" – 0:49
2. "For Other Eyes" (MacManus, Paul Cassidy, Ma. Thomas) – 2:55
3. "Swine" (MacManus, Cassidy) – 2:08
4. "Expert Rites" – 2:23
5. "Dead Letter" (Cassidy) – 2:18
6. "I Almost Had a Weakness" (MacManus, Michael Thomas) – 3:53
7. "Why?" (MacManus, Ian Belton) – 1:26
8. "Who Do You Think You Are?" (MacManus, Ma. Thomas, Mi. Thomas) – 3:28
9. "Taking My Life in Your Hands" (MacManus, Jacqueline Thomas, Ma. Thomas, Cassidy) – 3:20
10. "This Offer Is Unrepeatable" (MacManus, Cassidy, Belton, J. Thomas, Mi. Thomas) – 3:12
11. "Dear Sweet Filthy World" (MacManus, Belton, Ma. Thomas) – 4:17
12. "The Letter Home" (MacManus, Belton, Cassidy) – 3:10
13. "Jacksons, Monk and Rowe" (MacManus, J. Thomas, Mi. Thomas) – 3:43
14. "This Sad Burlesque" (MacManus, Cassidy) – 2:47
15. "Romeo's Seance" (MacManus, Ma. Thomas, Mi. Thomas) – 3:32
16. "I Thought I'd Write to Juliet" – 4:07
17. "Last Post" (Mi. Thomas, traditional) – 2:24
18. "The First to Leave" – 4:59
19. "Damnation's Cellar" – 3:25
20. "The Birds Will Still Be Singing" – 4:27

Tracks 2–4, 10, 11 and 17 are previously unissued.

1. "She Moved Through the Fair" (traditional arr.Cassidy) – 4:46 released on Lament by the Brodsky Quartet June 1994
2. "Pills and Soap" (MacManus arr.Cassidy) – 4:37 live at the Meltdown Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 28 June 1995
3. "King of the Unknown Sea" (M. Thomas) – 3:51 live at the Meltdown Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 28 June 1995
4. "Skeleton" (M. Thomas) – 4:54 live at the Meltdown Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 28 June 1995
5. "More Than Rain" (Tom Waits) – 3:25 released on Live at New York Town Hall September 1993
6. "God Only Knows" (Brian Wilson arr.M.Thomas) – 4:00 released on Live at New York Town Hall September 1993
7. "They Didn't Believe Me" (Jerome Kernarr.J.Thomas) – 4:01 released on Live at New York Town Hall September 1993
8. "O Mistress Mine" (with John Harle) (Harle) – 4:03 released on Terror & Magnificence by John Harle May 1997
9. "Come Away, Death" (with John Harle) (Harle) – 4:30 released on Terror & Magnificence by John Harle May 1997
10. "Put Away Forbidden Playthings" (with Fretwork) – 4:12 live at the Meltdown Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 1 July 1995
11. "Can She Excuse My Wrongs" (with Fretwork and The Composers Ensemble) (John Dowland) – 4:05 live at the Meltdown Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 28 June 1995
12. "Fire Suite 1" (with Roy Nathanson and Cyrus Chestnut) (Roy Nathanson) – 5:29 released on Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill March 2000
13. "Fire Suite 3" (with Roy Nathanson) (Nathanson) – 3:19 released on Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill March 2000
14. "Fire Suite Reprise" (with Roy Nathanson) (Nathanson) – 2:39 released on Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill March 2000
15. "Gigi" (with Bill Frisell) (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe) – 4:14 live at the Meltdown Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 25 June 1995, and released on Deep Dead Blue
16. "Deep Dead Blue" (with Bill Frisell) (Bill Frisell) – 3:45 live at the Meltdown Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 25 June 1995, and released on Deep Dead Blue
17. "Upon a Veil of Midnight Blue" (with the Punishing Kiss Band) – 4:36 live at the Meltdown Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 28 June 1995
18. "Lost in the Stars" (Kurt Weill) – 3:56 released on September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill August 1997

• Elvis Costello – vocal
• Michael Thomas – violin
• Ian Belton – violin
• Paul Cassidy – viola
• Jacqueline Thomas – cello

• The Juliet Letters at Discogs (list of releases)