Informationen zu "Michael Montgomery Adventures in Wonderland Junior String Orchestra"
Verlag: Recital Music
Verlagsnummer: RM899
EAN: 9790570458998
ISMN: M-57045-899-8
Beschreibung
This simple chamber work was originally written with several young children
from my teaching studio in mind, as I wished for them to have some little
pieces to play together. Each of the short movements attempts to depict with
music one these remarkable characters of Lewis Carroll?s popular children?s
book ?Alice?s Adventures in Wonderland?: I. Carroll has this to say
concerning the White Rabbit, the first character Alice meets on her
adventure: ?Was he framed on the ?Alice? lines, or meant as a contrast? As a
contrast, distinctly. For her ?youth,? ?audacity,? ?vigour,? and ?swift
directness of purpose,? read ?elderly,? ?timid,? ?feeble,? and ?nervously
shilly-shallying,? and you will get something of what I meant him to be. I
think the White Rabbit should wear spectacles. I am sure his voice should
quaver, and his knees quiver, and his whole air suggest a total inability to
say ?Bo? to a goose!? II. To the Cheshire Cat Carroll has given the ability
to disappear and reappear at will, often leaving only its toothy grin behind
as it fades away. Alice?s initial conversation with this unusual creature
unfolds thus: `Cheshire Puss,' she began, rather timidly, `Would you tell me,
please, which way I ought to go from here?' `That depends a good deal on
where you want to get to,' said the Cat. `I don't much care where--' said
Alice. `Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat. `-- so long
as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation. `Oh, you're sure to do
that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.' III. The Mad Hatter is
first encountered in the story as Alice arrives at a tea party, where he is
often seen making short, personal remarks, asking unanswerable riddles and
reciting nonsensical poetry. At the tea party, the time is perpetually 6
o?clock because, as Hatter explains it, Time and the He ?quarrelled last
March at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, in which I had to
sing. Well, I'd hardly finished the first verse,' said the Hatter, `when the
Queen jumped up and bawled out, 'He's murdering the time! Off with his head!?
?And ever since that,' the Hatter went on in a mournful tone, `he won't do a
thing I ask! It's always six o'clock now.' IV. Carroll offers this
description of his main character Alice: ?Loving, first, loving and gentle:
loving as a dog (forgive the prosaic simile, but I know no earthy love so
pure and perfect), and gentle as a fawn, then courteous ? courteous to all,
high or low, grand or grotesque, King or Caterpillar, even as though she were
herself a King?s daughter, and her clothing of wrought gold: then trustful,
ready to accept the wildest impossibilities with all that utter trust that
only dreamers know, and lastly, curious ? wildly curious, and with the eager
enjoyment of Life that comes only in the happy hours of childhood, when all
is new and fair, and when Sin and Sorrow are but names ? empty words
signifying nothing!? V. And finally, Carroll presents the following remarks
about the Queen of Hearts: ?I pictured to myself the Queen of Hearts as a
sort of embodiment of ungovernable passion ? a blind and aimless Fury. The
Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. 'Off
with his head!' she said, without even looking round.? It is hoped the
imaginations of any young students working through these little movements
will stirred by the fanciful story written by Mr. Carroll as they play.
Double bassist Michael Montgomery, a student of Robert Rohe and Lucas Drew,
has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree, played in the Florida Philharmonic
Orchestra for many years, and now lives in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas,
where he teaches at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville and the Suzuki
Music School of Arkansas. His articles have been published in American Suzuki
Journal, Bass World, and Pastoral Music.
