GULA

Gluttony: O slavering slave to food and drink / You'll eat the baby, too, I think!

La Gourmandise: Fils glouton de l'ivresse, / Manges-tu, bois-tu sans cesse ?

"La Gourmandise" (Gluttony) draws directly upon Bosch's grimly humorous depiction of the same vice. The opening thematic statement in the lowest register of the bassoon, representing the man Bosch shows seated at table, is repeatedly interrupted by a childish plea in the piano representing the little boy who begs his guzzling father for a drink. Thereafter the plaintive material grows blatantly demanding, and in combination with a lugubrious countermelody in the bassoon, paints a haunting tonal picture of gustatory excess. The meal finishes with both instruments fading into postprandial drowsiness.